What You Do To Me
by anime fearie
Summary: Yaoi.The third part in the Monsters Trilogy after "I Will Be The One" Reno is back in Midgar after his psycho blood rampage, but can he make up for what he's done in the past? How can he possibly make up for what he did to the person he cares about most.
1. When The Vactation Is Over...

What You Do To Me

_by Anime Fearie_

Chapter 1;

**When The Vacation Is Over...**

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WARNING: THIS FIC CONTAINS SOME YAOI.  THAT MEANS THAT IF THE IDEA OF M/M RELATIONSHIPS GROSSES YOU OUT DON'T READ ANY FURTHER.  

DISCLAIMER:MOST OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS FIC AREN'T MINE. I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY MAY SCREAM WHEN UNDER TORTURE. EVEN IF I /DID/ MAKE THEM SAY THAT. MAGGIE, CASSIAN, KATTIE, ARE ALL MINE 

THANKYOUS; A NEW SECTION HERE FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT LIKE MY LITTLE STORY. THANKYOU SO MUCH. IT WOULD NEVER HAVE GOTTEN TO THREE PARTS HAD YOU ALL NOT GIVEN ME MY MOTIVATIVE MEDICINE, WHETHER IT BE CONGRATS FOR THE STORY, DEMANDS FOR UPDATES OR A SWIFT ELECTRONIC KICK IN MY LAZY ASS.  THANKYOU SO MUCH. 

**IMPORTANT NOTE!: **IF YOU HAVEN'T READ  **"A LITTLE BOY CALLED DALE"** YET, YOU REALLY SHOULD. IT WILL BE MENTIONED IN THIS PART AND YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON A LITTLE BETTER IF YOU'VE READ THAT LITTLE SIDE STORY. IF YOU ARE READING THIS, IT IS ALMOST A MUST FOR THIS FIC. _______________________________________________________________

_Author's notes: Yes I went and did it again.  I went and started another one.  Flame me if you must, but nothing will stop me. Mwahahahaha.  Well you never know I might stop after this one.  I reckon this will be a little more conclusive than my last ones, I hear you all breath a sigh of relief.  But hey I think this one has to be done.  I must admit I left the other one a little unresolved and many would argue that on it's own it wasn't a full story.  So here is it's conclusion and then some.  Enjoy._

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            "C'mon man hurry it the fuck up.  You wanna get caught in 'ere?"

            Charlie looked around at his friend and smirked.  Ric was always so worrisome when it came to sneaking into these areas.  The reactor's especially.   

            "Look Jesse ain't gonna pay us for just anything. She was pretty exact."

            Charlie turned away from his Ric and back to the filing cabinet in front of him.

            Why some of these reactors had offices were beyond him.  Why didn't they just store all this shit over at Shinra?  It was most likely that Shinra already had copies of the files, but still, here they were much more attainable than inside the big tower.  The reactors were guarded, but that was nothing compared to the Shinra Building. 

            The offices were located up in the higher levels so they had to navigate past dozens of guard posts to get to this point.  They had scrambled through air ducks and silently made their way across catwalks so they weren't seen.  Trespassing in the reactor structures wasn't something that was taken lightly by Shinra and like everybody in the slums, they had heard rumors of how these trespassers were dealt with.  It was probably those rumors that were making Ric so nervous at the moment.  But Charlie couldn't really tell.  Ric always got nervous.  The offices weren't the happiest looking places of a night.  Stark gray walls and no roofs, just a big gap that led up into the rafters above.

            "Yeah I know the blueprints.  I reckon, if Jesse wants 'em so bad she can drag her own ass in 'ere and get 'em."  Ric said sourly.

            "It's not like we're doing this for free Ric.  C'mon you've got less spine than a snail.  Plus you move about as fast as one.  You wanna get outta here come over here ad help me you retard."

            Ric trudged over to his friend and started going through the filing cabinet next to him.  There must have been at least five cabinet's in the large office and it had taken them a while to even get through the first three.  Especially with only a couple of torches to guide their way.  If they didn't work soon, the next shift of guards would start their inspection of the floor.  There were only about four offices on this level, it wouldn't take long to find them.

            "You're jus' scared of her boss."  Ric accused.  "This ain't 'bout money.  We jus' knick stuff.  Goin' 'gainst Shinra ain't what I had in mind."

            "Her boss is a known terrorist."  Charlie reminded. "Plus you've seen the size of him.  Did /you/ wanna say no to a guy like that?"

Suddenly Ric bought his head up and looked around the darkened room cautiously. "Did ya here that?"  He asked softly.

            "Hear what?"  Charlie asked impatiently.

            Ric listened for a moment longer before shaking his head.  "Thought I heard somethin'.  Ya don't reckon they know we're 'ere do ya?"

            Charlie rolled his eyes.  "You're such a chocobo.  Course they don't.  You probably just heard the guards up on the next floor.  That's where they should be now."  

            Ric shrugged and turned back to the cabinet.  "Guess so."

            A couple more minutes and Charlie snagged the right folder out of the files.  He beamed at his friend. "Let's haul ass."

            They closed the drawers and turned around to head back over to the door.  As they turned simultaneously they came face to face with another guy.

            Both let out gasps of surprise and Charlie dropped the folder.  The man in front of them hung upside down apparently from a rope fit to the belt around his waist.  The sight was reminiscent of a kid hanging from a jungle gym.  He sure looked just as happy as one. Charlie realized that the man must have been hiding up in the rafters waiting for them.  They'd been set up.  He wanted to run, but he found his body unwilling to move.  He knew enough to know who this man was.  The uniform spoke for itself.

            The intruder let one hand off the rope than dangled down past his face and waggled a finger at them as if berating a small child.

            "Do you boys know that you're not supposed to be playing in here?"

            The voice spoke pure amusement of the situation.

            "Holy fuck it's a Turk!"  Ric gasped unnecessarily.  He seemed to be in a similar state of shock.

            The Turk turned his eyes to Ric then quickly back to Charlie and smirked.

            "Your friend's a quick one, but I'm betting that you're the real brains here.  Can I ask for that file back that you stole?"

            Charlie, unable to do much else nodded and stooped down to pick it up off the floor.  It occurred to him while he was down here, that he could grab the file and race to the door.  After all the Turk was hanging upside down off a friggin' roof beam, what the hell was he going to do?  It would mean leaving Ric behind though, but so be it.  He wasn't about to die over this.

            He grabbed the file and ducked underneath the Turk and made a sprint for the door.  

            He didn't quite make it.  A sharp pain flared up his back as he felt what he thought was a bolt of lightening course through his body.  He dropped to the floor and the file skidded out of his hand.

            He lay on his back, head turned back in the direction of the Turk and his friend.  The Turk turned himself right side up then dropped to the floor.  Taking his time he unclasped the belt around his waist and wandered over to Charlie.  He bent down next to the fallen man and retrieved the folder from the floor and gave Charlie an unsympathetic smile.

            "That was a bad move."

            Charlie swallowed thickly.

            "You know I could have killed you. "If Charlie could move he would have nodded.  The Turk seemed to realize this. "But you lucky guys have caught me in a rather good mood, so I tell you what.  I have the file back, so I'm gonna call the guards to escort you boys out of here."

            Charlie couldn't believe his ears.  He was going to let them go?

            Ric voiced his thoughts for him.

            "Yer gonna let us go?"

            The Turk half turned back to Ric.

            "On one condition.  I catch you in here again and I'm gonna throw you into the reactor core without suits.  Understand?"

            "Yes Sir."  Ric responded right away.

The Turk stood and flipped on the light by the door causing a bright fluorescent light to momentarily blind them.  He reached into his jacket and pulled out his PHS.

            "I'll get the guards."  He informed them.  

            After tapping in the number he looked back down at the man sprawled by his feet.  "I must warn you though," He continued, "You will have pissed off quite a few of them by sneaking past them.  They might not be as receptive as I was."

            With that he offered Charlie a feral smile and slightly bared his teeth.

            "If I were you, I'd be very nice to them."

            He stepped over Charlie and walked out into the hall to talk more privately, convinced that the pair weren't going anywhere.  And with very good reason.

            Ric seemed to go a little pale at that last comment and he looked over at Charlie with barely concealed panic.

            "Fuck me, d'ya know who that is?"

            Charlie met his friend's glazed look.  "Yeah you mentioned that. He's a Turk." He managed in between painful gasps.

            "Charlie, we're lucky we're alive.  That was friggin' Reno."

            Suddenly the name clicked and Charlie knew why his friend looked so scared………Because he was absolutely right.

                        *********************************************

            Rufus plunked himself down into the chair without his usual style and grace and eyed the man that sat across from him.  The other man was obviously trying to ignore him.

            Finally Rufus understood the silence.

            "Don't you dare Reeve.  You promised."

            Reeve ultimately looked up at the source of annoyance and scowled at him.  "I promise every week and still don't go.  Why are you so sullen about it this week?"

            Rufus blew a piece of golden hair out of his eyes and slumped further into the chair.  "Because Tseng blew it off and that leaves me with Rude and his girlfriend.  And if you leave me alone with those two love birds all night I'm going to hang myself from your light fixture."

            Reeve temporarily forgot his annoyance and chuckled slightly at the comment. "Go ask one of those dazzling woman you have trailing after you.  I'm sure they'd jump at the opportunity."  Reeve smirked.  "Or at least jump you for the opportunity."

            "Ah but one can rarely ever find a woman that appreciates the art of hockey." He answered wistfully.  "C'mon the seasons only just started and you've bailed on me three times."

            "I don't even like hockey."  Reeve pointed out.

            "Yeah but you won't be drooling over me instead of trying to watch the game."

            "If I said that I would, would you leave me alone?  Because if it would I'm willing to make the sacrifice."  Reeve joked.

            Rufus didn't laugh.  "I have my father's box seats.  Are you trying to piss me off on purpose?"

            "Usually."

            Rufus rolled his eyes.  "I think I liked it better back when you were scared of me."

            "Look Rufus, I swear on my life, next week. Okay?"  Reeve compromised.

            Rufus looked far from believing him.

            "I will okay.  I just don't feel like it tonight is all."  He tried again.

            Rufus sighed and accepted the answer.

            "This wouldn't have something to do with a certain someone that came back to work this week would it?"

            Rufus watched Reeve shift uncomfortably in his chair while pretending that wasn't affected by what Rufus had said.

            "Oh yes?"

            "Oh c'mon, as if you didn't know."

            Reeve stopped pretending and started to really look uncomfortable.  Rufus hadn't bought the subject up all week, patiently waiting for Reeve to be the one to bring it up first.  Rufus had never been a particularly patient with anyone before and he had found it hard to keep quiet all week.  It was Friday now, almost a year and a half since Reno had been sent on his forced R&R.  The last time that Reeve had actually seen the other man was just before the ambulance drivers had removed the unconscious Turk from his apartment.

            Rufus had actually been surprised that Reno had been gone for such a short time considering everything that had happened.  But Tseng had assured Rufus that Reno had managed to sort himself out. He'd even put him on field duty out in Junon for six months.  Though Tseng had privately told him that he had worried constantly that the man might do something rash like take his own life.  At least that proved that he was over a little of what he was going through and had begun to feel a little remorse.  It had been hard for him to recuperate, but eventually Reno had begun to respond a little better. Rufus felt no worries about allowing the man back to Shinra.  After all Reno was a Turk, not an angel. 

            He was finding himself interested in what Reeve thought of all f this though.  Was he scared, angry, hurt or happy?  Watching him now, Rufus knew the answer. Reeve was uncomfortable.  Either with the situation or Rufus questioning him on it.

            "Tseng told me."  Reeve admitted.  "Though I'm not sure why."

            "Probably to warn you to hide all your cutlery before Reno next visits."  Rufus said as a joke.  He realized too late just how insensitive it must have sounded.

            "I would assume that that wouldn't be necessary anymore since he's back.  Wasn't that the idea of sending him away."  Reeve said crossly.

            "Yeah, I know I'm sorry. I was just joking."

            "At least I know you are.  You never apologize."

            "Well don't get too used to it."  Rufus muttered standing.  "I guess I can't talk you into coming along tonight."

            Reeve shook his head.  "Next week okay?"

            Rufus nodded and left the office as quickly as he had come.

                        ****************************************************

            The M1 highway in Midgar was among the longest and busiest in Midgar.  The stretch of road ran from upper eight, around most of the sectors and around the Shinra Building in the center before finally ending up almost full circle in upper sector one.

            At no time, night nor day, was the road unused.  More than half of Midgar's upper sector population used the roadway and as a result, the highway was always busy, packed with cars and trucks taking advantage of the most direct route across Midgar.  

            The result of such heavy traffic often ended in traffic jams and an unsightly amount of accidents.  However, when people saw the bright red Executive Model K fly through the lanes, nobody was game enough to stand in its way.  Most were awed by the deftness and skill that the driver weaved through the packed traffic.  The rest were just in fear that they might get in the way of the infamous driver.  Enormous amounts of traffic made way for the shiny red bullet as it sped down the highway with the abandon that most maniacs would be frightened of.

            The car soon made its exit off the highway towards its destination accompanied by the collective sigh of relief from the other commuters.

            The red car screeched around another corner, almost bottoming out as it hit the steep incline at the entrance of the sports stadium parking lot.  Once safely up the ramp, the driver revved the ridiculously loud engine and propelled his pride and joy down the center lane and toward the VIP parking at the front of the lot.

            From Rude's vantage point near the ticket booths, he couldn't see the car enter the lot, but he could sure as hell hear it though.

            There were a lot of reckless drivers in Midgar.  These days it was safer to brave the rather seedy public transport than to drive or even own your own car on the streets.  However none of those insane drivers drove with the carelessness of Rufus Shinra.  Compared to Rufus, those other lunatics were old ladies towing trailers.  Rufus was more than an insane maniac driver.  Rufus was President Shinra's only legitimate child.  A title that made him immune to just about any criminal offence in Midgar.  That included any and all traffic violations, a fact that Rufus seemed to delight in exploiting at any chance possible.  Cops all over Midgar seemed to have the image of Rufus' beautiful car burned into memory, gods forbid they forget themselves one day and pull it over.

            "Rufus is here."  Rude told Maggie.

            Maggie slid her arm across his back and pulled herself in closer to him.  She bit back a smile.  "I heard."

            Sure enough, Rufus appeared a couple of minutes later making his way through the milling crowd.  Maggie raised her free hand to wave him over while Rude cast an eye down to the roadway at the other end of the pavement.

            Maggie watched Rufus nod to her when he saw her, changing direction to suit. 

            It was always amusing seeing Rufus in what he described as his 'casual' clothes.  Nothing Rufus ever wore could ever be considered casual.  The clothes he wore tonight were no exception.  Bone slacks, white cotton shirt, and brown leather jacket.  The outfit probably cost more than Rude's last paycheck. 

            When Rude thought about it, there was simply nothing casual about Rufus Shinra.  He walked with an air of importance.  Head up, stride quick and fluid, but never rushed.  In summed up Rufus' entire demeanor perfectly.  Important, with a taste for only the best in life. Sometimes he had to wonder why this man ever hung out with the Turks.  Rufus could be doing anything he wanted with whomever he wanted right now.  Yet here he was, attending a hockey game his father had deemed unworthy of attending himself, with a guy he rarely had time to talk to and a girl he had no chance of ever fucking.

            The situation seemed quite humbling really.

            Rufus stopped in front of the pair and flashed one of his best smiles.  One of those smiles that usually sent woman tumbling at his feet in awe of his money and looks, but used on this occasion as barely disguised amusement.

            "Not too late am I?"

            He knew damn well he was late.  He had the tickets and knew that the others couldn't do anything without them.  Hence the smile.

            Rude shook his head non-committedly and turned his attention back down to the other end of the pavement again.

            Rufus cocked a curious eyebrow in Maggie's direction.

            "We're waiting for a straggler."  Maggie explained.

            "I thought Tseng cancelled."

            "He did."  She assured.

            "So..." Rufus prompted when it seemed that Maggie was unlikely to continue.

            "Finally."  Rude muttered, his head still turned.

            Rufus' confusion eventually cleared as he followed Rude's line of sight.

            Just down by the roadway a man exited a taxi cab wearing faded jeans and a rather uninteresting gray shirt.  The man leant in through the drivers side window of the cab for a few seconds before reappearing and tucking his wallet back into his pocket.

            Rufus was speechless.  He'd have thought that Rude would have given him some forewarning about this new eventuality.  Obviously he hadn't  thought it necessary.

            Reno was a part of their group after all, regardless of what had happened in the past.  Turks never judged each other considering their line of work.  Rufus, however, was not a Turk.

            He saw Maggie move closer to him out of the corner of his otherwise occupied eyesight.  Her light blue eyes studying him closely.

            "Something wrong?"  Maggie asked softly enough so that not her boyfriend would have heard her above the surrounding crowd.

            Rufus heard though, just as she intended.  Dumbly he shook his head, his gaze never leaving the man walking toward their little group.

            "Okay," she said obviously unconvinced, "then shut your mouth, it's hanging open."

            Rufus immediately obeyed.  It hadn't been as if he didn't know he was doing it, he just couldn't consciously hide his surprise.

            Reno stopped in front of Rude and stuck his hands in his pockets, a rather submissive gesture for him, without his usual cocky smile.  Rufus noted that the man actually looked nervous.

            "If Junon wins tonight, I'm hanging Midgar's goalie off the scoreboard by his testicles."  He stated somewhat seriously.

            Rude gave him a friendly slap on the back.  "Of course they'll win.  Midgar couldn't win even if Junon tired to let them."

            The pre-game banter went on without Rufus.  For some reason he felt he suddenly couldn't get into the spirit of things. But this was Reno for gods sakes!  The same man he'd gone to dozens of games with, hundreds of drinking sessions and more.  Reno was his friend.

            Wasn't he?

            For the life of him, Rufus didn't know.  The man Rufus had sent to Costa del Sol hadn't been his friend, he knew that.  Someone his friend had fallen down into a deep dark pit and hadn't been able to get back out while a monster had reigned his body in his stead.  Was his friend back or still crawling out of the darkness?

            Rufus saw an image flash briefly across his eyes.  An image of a bruised and beaten man.  Bleeding through his shirt and shaken beyond belief, standing in his living room, a look of pure defeat and anguish in his eyes.  With it came the familiar anger he had felt that night.  Anger that had made Rufus want to go out and beat the person senseless that had caused so much grief.

            Reno met his gaze for a second before quickly looking away.  No wonder Reno had been so quick to avert his gaze.  Normally Reno wouldn't have cared less if someone was annoyed at him, but for that second Rufus had seen a small trace of guilt flicker across the red-head's expression.  And undoubtedly Reno had seen what Rufus knew he must be giving.  Like his earlier shock, Rufus found himself unable to conceal the pure emotion he knew was written across his face.

            "The game will start soon." Rufus muttered before turning and leading the way through the crowd.

                                                ****************************

            Rufus took another swig of beer and lent further back into the cushions of his seat.

            The executive box had, undoubtedly, the best seats in the stadium.  From the luxurious box you could see the entire rink, but still be able to see the spit fly out of each individual players mouths after a particularly hard hit.  It had an open bar, trays of hot delicious food and /the/ most comfortable seats outside of the presidential office.  Indeed the box was outfitted for President Shinra himself, had he ever wanted to attend a game.  Luckily for his son, the president hated sport and Rufus was only too happy to make full use of the season tickets in his father's absence.

            Usually Rufus dug into the alcohol and spent game time with his face pressed up against the floor to ceiling glass viewing window, cheering his team on very vocally. Tonight he sipped the expensive beer with little interest and watched the timer click over on the massive scoreboard.

            Maggie sat literally on the edge of her seat next to Rufus, applauding or jeering at the appropriate times, making up for her boyfriend's usual silence.

            The last seat along, Reno sat in a similar state as Rufus.  Occasionally he'd throw a pensive look toward Rufus, but mostly kept his gaze locked on the rink.  Even more amazingly, he was practically silent most of the time.

            It might have been because Junon was winning, or because he knew that Rufus was sulking.

            _I am /not/ sulking!_

            And maybe if he kept telling himself that he may actually start believing it.

            Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Reno give him another troubling look.  Then, as always, look away again. One more of those looks and Rufus figured he'd snap.

            "I'll be back in a minute."

            Getting to his feet he left his friends and beat a hasty retreat to the solitude of the bathroom.

            The small bathroom contained about three stalls in all with as many basins and a large mirror above them that spanned almost the entire wall.  Rufus entered the bathroom, disregarded that stalls and paced back and forth in an effort to calm his brain.  Finally he stopped pacing and found that the white marble basins were prefect to lean on while he gathered his thoughts.

            He was there long before he heard the door swing open behind him.  He lifted his eyes to the mirror, not totally surprised to meet a familiar pair of sparkling teal eyes meeting his reflected gaze.

            Not once while Reno had been away did Rufus ever think about what he might say or do when he saw him again.  He supposed that in a childish way he figured that things would immediately go back to how they were in the past.  How surprised he was to discover that the more mature part of his ethical mind was rearing up and telling him in rather angry tones that normality was just not going to happen.  Reno was sick and he had done some really nasty shit that Rufus couldn't bring himself to forgive as easily as he'd thought.  

            How'd he think he'd handle it?

            _'Wow you had us scared for a while, but welcome back' followed with a hearty slap on the back and all was forgiven?_

_            Of course not, but Rufus, in not so many ways had expected just that.  And why the hell not?  Reno was a Turk, a lot of things he did weren't morally upstanding to say the least. Rufus had always nodded and smiled and not given the whole matter of what the Turks did a hell of a lot of thought.  This is what Rufus had grown up with.  A world where parents were a mere signature, money was an abundant source of power and Turks killed, tortured and worked for the good of Shinra.  It wasn't till these nasty things started happening to people he knew that he really started to pay attention._

            _Am I really that uncaring?_

            He wanted to submit to that immature and uncaring part of his mind and welcome Reno back with open arms.  He also wanted to beat the bastards head against the beautiful white marble sink top.  He decided on a more neutral ground.

            "What?" He asked slightly irritably.

            Reno broke his gaze, seemingly deciding to study Rufus' back instead.

            "You're missing the game."

            "That was a chance I was willing to take when I embarked to take a leak Reno."

            Reno took in Rufus' position near the sinks, a corner of his mouth tipping up slightly. 

            "Funny place to do it." Immediately after making the crack, Reno seemed to look a little guilty though.

            He looked, in Rufus' opinion, like a kid who had just crashed his father's brand new sports car.  The look did nothing to help Rufus' moral need to be pissed off at the other man.

            "What do you want Reno?"

            Reno sighed and shrugged. "To thank you I guess. Any other guy might've just ordered my execution.  You didn't, you wanted to help."

            Rufus spun around to face Reno, a look of pure anger written across his features as Reno's words tore him back to Reeve's apartment that night.  "Don't you dare think that it didn't cross my mind! Several murders I can't prove, but I know you were responsible for, blowing up a whole apartment block! Not to mention..." Rufus' voice faltered slightly at the end, but he brushed it off and continued. "If Heidigar and Tseng hadn't talked me out of it you would be among the unemployed masses in the slums.  And if Reeve hadn't talked me out of it, I may have killed you myself that last night!"

            Reno visibly winced and cast him eyes toward the floor. "It wasn't...I didn't...I don't..." Reno couldn't seem to construct a good explanation.  The man who could lie more easily that actually tell the truth and that you normally couldn't shut up if you held a gun to his head, was lost for words.  He tired again, "How is Reeve?"

            After all that had been building the entire night, Rufus finally gave into one desperate need.  He answered Reno very precisely and promptly and with enough force to throw Reno back onto his ass.

            Weird enough, Reno didn't seem that surprised when Rufus had punched him.

            "Feel better?" he asked rubbing his sore jaw.

            Rufus took a deep calming breath before extending his hand out toward his fallen friend. "A little." He admitted. "He was going to come along tonight.  I'm glad he didn't.  You would have done something stupid like apologize."

            Reno took the proffered hand and boosted himself back onto his feet.

            "I take it that you think it wouldn't be a wise move then?"

            Rufus picked up one of the towels off the basin and handed it to Reno indicating at the other man's cut lip.

            "On second thought, go ahead.  It might be amusing to see him deck you as well.  Not to mention extremely therapeutic."

            Reno rested his back up against the wall behind him and looked at the small amount of blood he'd left on the white towel.

            "How do you apologize for something like that."

            It wasn't exactly a question.  More like a voiced thought of something he may have been agonizing over for a while.

            Rufus pretended to give it some thought.  "Apart from castrating yourself with a rusty butter knife?  Not very easily."

            Reno dabbed at his lip again and gave Rufus a weird look.

            "What makes it even harder is that I don't remember everything. It's like I took a leave of my senses or something. Only literally.  I remember a lot.  Just not everything."

            "You better not be lying Reno."

            "I'm not."  He persisted.  "I just need to talk to him."

            Rufus' face twisted into an evil look, a look Rufus usually only reserved for talking to his father with.  

            "Go near him and he won't be able to talk me out of it next time Reno."

            Reno looked at the VP a little surprised.  Both he and Rufus knew that if Reno wanted to he could defend himself easily against that.  But Rufus had something going for him that Reno didn't.  Rufus was an important person and if Reno laid one unwelcome finger on the man he would become more hunted than any terrorist if Rufus chose him to be.

            "That's very protective of you Rufus."  Reno said warily.

            Rufus could almost see what the other man was thinking and realized why he had looked so surprised earlier.

            "No. It's not like that."  Rufus said a little more calmly.

            Reno studied Rufus' expression for a moment, his brows creased slightly in faint annoyance.  

            "I have been away for a while after all.  What was it?  You felt you needed to comfort the poor man after his harrowing ordeal Rufus?" Sarcasm dripped from each word spoken.  Rufus realized that Reno was obviously annoyed at the idea of what he thought might have happened but considering he was really being restrained.  Rufus felt that it was only because of his earlier guilt that was making him do so.  

            "Reno, seriously, no.  Besides what the hell should you care what he does and with who anymore.  I mean pardon me but I think you've negated all rights in that respect."  He spat back.

            "It wasn't....I didn't mean...."

            "Say you didn't mean to do all that shit Reno and I'll hit you again."  Rufus interrupted, "Say you didn't mean to bash his head against a doorframe, say you didn't mean to cut him up with a kitchen knife.  Better yet, say you didn't intend to rape him in his own bedroom at knifepoint!  Do that and I'll fucking strangle you!"

            Reno visibly paled at Rufus' words, his gaze became fixed on the mirror over Rufus' shoulder.

            "He told you I did all that?"

            "No."  Rufus admitted.  "But I did see his apartment afterwards Reno.  I saw the blood, I saw the knife.  You were passed out on the floor of his bedroom for gods sakes!  Are you telling me that none of that happened?"

            "As near as I can figure."  Reno answered softly.  "I guess I never realized I could do all that."

            "At least a part of you could Reno.  And I think you'd do better than to approach him about it.  If he wants to talk, let him be the one to make the move."

            Reno tore his eyes from the mirror and locked his gaze firmly onto Rufus.  "I understand. I just want you to promise me something."

            Rufus cocked his head to the side, curious to hear him out but in no way signifying that he was agreeable.

            "Whatever you do, don't fuck it up."

            "Excuse me?  Don't fuck what up?"

            Reno sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor again.  "I know that over the years you've made this big show about all the woman you've banged.  But I'm not stupid Rufus, I've seen how you look at some people  And I think I was right that day in my office, about you anyway. And I'm begging you not to screw up your friendship with him like I did.  Not for something you think might be better 'cause it wont work out."

            "And I told you that it's not like that!" He replied testily. Then; "Just out of curiosity, why do you think it wouldn't work?  I mean, okay I admit that what you said before might have some truth to it and I'm not saying that I have ever and ever will make a move on the guy....but why are you warning me off it?"

            "Because I know you.  And I know that given the chance you'll treat him like every other fuck you've managed to land and I still think enough of him to not want that to happen."

            Well there was no way Rufus felt he could argue that point.  He was in a bitch of a mood to start off with without having to put up with Reno poking at his sex life.

            "If you cared that much, then why the hell did you do it?  What the hell's so different about the two of us?"

            Reno bought his gaze back up to rest on Rufus.  "That's just my point.  There isn't a hell of a lot of difference sometimes and he wont go for these little games of casual office fucking that you play."

            By this point Rufus felt that the absurdity level of the conversation had hit a new high point.

            "I don't know why I am even discussing this with you.  I'm not going to go after him, so what the hell does it matter?"

            Reno eyed him dubiously.  "Like I said I remember a lot of what happened.  Do you remember what you told me that day in my office?"

            Rufus shifted his weight uncomfortably on the sinks.  "A little."

            "You told me that if you ever thought you'd have a chance you would try something.  Remember?"

            Rufus rolled his eyes and pushed himself away from the basin intent on exiting the bathroom.  Reno was still propped near the door and caught Rufus' arm as he stalked past.

            "Remember?"

            "Yes."  He reluctantly admitted. "But nothing has changed, I still wouldn't have a chance."

            Reno let his arm go but Rufus stayed in place, hand resting on the door.

            "Why not?"  Reno asked softly.

            "Same reasons as before.  I am not the one he is in love with."

***

_Notes: Hmmm, feels good to be back, don't it? *Sighs* I've missed this fic. One or two things though;_

_Here's my problems; 1)Too much confusion over the whole Reeve thing without developing much plot.  2)I've got a lot to go through without all this muck. 3) I dwelt on the Reeve dilemma for way too long.  Reno and Rufus must have had at least half the contents of the chapter bent on that subject and for some reason not even me, goddess of this fanfic, could get them to stop.  4) After that last remark you can also see that I am slowly going insane from writing this chapter to kick off the new part III so I believe I'll stop driveling and let you get back you your lives.  Catch you next time_

_Feedback makes me write quicker faster and with skill that can only come from an inflated ego_

_AF_

anime_fearie@excite.com__

_I would Absolutely LOVE to get a full review for this fic. I know that would mean e-mailing me and all that garbage. But I would really like to know what I'm doing right or wrong or whatever. I want this part especially to be wonderful. I dunno, does this fic /have/ any major major fans out there?_

http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/

Mailing list, joyness for all ages, fics, pics, fights, AF's Top Ten + much much more.


	2. What I Would Do For You

What You Do To Me

_By Anime Fearie_

Chapter 2

What I Would Do For You

The rest of the game proved just an interesting as before with Junon winning the game by a clear ten points.  Rufus wasn't put in the best of moods before the game and now he had to listen to the two Junon fans bleat on about the win from the gates, all the way to his car.

            Maggie was practically bouncing with excitement.  "Didn't we tell you last week!  I knew they'd win!  Hey Rufus didn't you say you'd drive home in your underwear if Midgar lost?"

            Rufus unlocked the drivers side door and threw Maggie a rather nasty glare.  "And here I was about to offer you guys a ride home."

            "Your car only seats two people."  Rude pointed out.  "And besides I don't feel like getting killed tonight."

            "I'll say!"  Maggie agreed.  "We'll see you both on Monday okay?"

            Rufus nodded to the pair and opened his door.  But Maggie stayed routed to the spot by the front of the car gazing at Rufus expectantly.

            "What?"

            "I thought you made a bet?"

            Rufus looked at her for a moment longer to see if the blond woman was actually serious or not.

            She was.

            Rufus had made the bet purely in jest, but he'd never figured on Junon actually winning.  Now that they had, he could see that Maggie wasn't about to let him get away with it.  Not wanting to look like a bad sport overrode his modesty unfortunately.

            With a heavy sigh of defeat he threw his keys onto the roof of his car and began stripping much to the astonishment of the onlookers that passed by the VP's car.  A couple even stopped to watch the very un-Rufus Shinra-like behavior.  Jacket, shoes, shirt and pants joined the increasing pile of clothing on the passenger seat until Rufus stood next to his car clad in nothing but a pair of white silk boxer shorts.  

            Maggie gave him an overly loud wolf whistle before her boyfriend finally managed to pull her away from the spectacle and off toward the train station.

            "Want a ride?"  Rufus asked Reno grabbing his keys from the roof.

            "Last time a guy in his boxers asked me that I couldn't refuse.  Why start now?"  Reno threw back.

            Annoyed beyond reasoning Rufus didn't respond.  He simply slid into the drivers seat and quickly shut the door.

            Reno swept aside the bundle of clothes before depositing himself down into the passengers seat just as Rufus threw the car into gear and took off toward the exit.

            Once they got on the M1 Reno was able to pry his fingers off the dashboard and clip his belt into place.

            "Rufus?"

            "What?"

            Reno chewed his lip in thought for a moment before continuing. "Are we friends or should I still be clinging to the dash board in fear of my life?"

            Rufus carelessly took his eyes off the road long enough to cast an irritated glare in the Turk's direction.

            "I firmly believe that you weren't quite yourself a couple of months ago.  I can't however forgive what you've done, but I will make allowances."

            Rufus swung into the left lane just in time to miss the rear bumper of the truck in front of him.

            "So....?"

            "Yes.  Not that I get why the hell you care anyhow.  Since when have you cared what other people think of you?"

            "I don't care what you think of me Rufus."  Reno grinned, "I just care whether I have someone to go out drinking with me tomorrow night."

            Rufus knew that was an utterly bullshit statement, but he didn't comment on it.

            "Tomorrow night I'm busy."

            "Do I want to know what you'll be doing?"

            Rufus couldn't help the small smirk that crept over his face.  "If all goes well I'll be doing your ex-boyfriend.  I'll be free on Sunday night though."

            "You're kidding."

            "No really, I will be free on Sunday."

            Reno gave Rufus a knowing look.  "That's not what I meant."

            "I'm kidding okay.  But I am going over there for dinner.  He's helping me out with something."

            Reno chewed on that answer for a while.  "What you said before....was that true?"

            "Which part? About me not having a chance or the reason why I mightn't have a chance?"

            "The reason."

            Rufus sighed heavily as he came to a stop at a traffic light.  "Honestly I don't know for sure, he doesn't talk to me about things like that.  It's just what I've picked up on."

            "And you're still warning me against seeing him?"

            "Absolutely.  I meant what I said before, go near him and I'll rip your head off Reno.  He missed a week of work after what happened."

            "Ah I see," Reno said with the sudden realization, "You care 'cause he missed work and that dumbass of an assistant had to fill in."

            In a sudden move Rufus swung the car over the curb and killed the engine.  He sat tensely behind the wheel and stared out of the windscreen.

            "I care because he spent that week alone in his apartment in a serious fit of depression.  When I finally figured he'd spent enough alone time I went around to his apartment and found him passed out almost dead from starvation in a house full of food."  Rufus let out a long breath through his nose.

            Reno peered at the other man intently for a while.  Jaw locked, gaze straight and unblinking.

            "You really do have a thing for him don't you?"

            It was all Reno could say.  Reeve had almost died.  Consciously made the decision to not look after himself because of the pain Reno had caused.  He felt  lower than he thought would be possible after the last couple of months he'd had.  Suddenly he wished that Rufus had gone out and killed him that night instead of sending him away.

            "I remember finding you in a similar state not so long ago Reno.  After the Sector Three job a couple of years or so back."  Rufus finally turned to face the man sitting beside him an unreadable expression on his face.  "I cared for you then. Would you have said I had a thing for you?"

            Reno remembered.  He remembered crushing the cup in his hand and feeling the glass bite into his hand and wrist and not caring.  He remembered passing out and waking up in a hospital later that night with a worried Tseng and Rufus standing over him.

            "Does caring for someone mean you want to fuck them Reno?"  Rufus said cutting into the memory.

            "Not necessarily." He answered in measured tones.  

            "Then why the hell do we keep coming back to the same conversation?  If you keep going on about it I might go out and fuck him tomorrow night just to spite you."

            "You would too wouldn't you?"

            Reno took the opportunity to run a subtle eye over Rufus' near naked body in the seat beside him.  He found it truly amazing how money could help a persons fitness levels.  Rufus had memberships to all the best gyms in Midgar and he didn't let one of them go to waste.  Personal trainers, health monitors the works.  Sure he ate crap and drank almost as often as Reno did, but he always made the time to go off to one of these fancy gyms and sweat it all off.  The result was pretty eye watering really. Trim, toned but not to the degree that made him look like one of those steroid injecting action heroes.  Not to mention the full body tan that Rufus always seemed to be sporting.  Although gods know how he managed to get one in Midgar during winter.

            Reno had come to the conclusion long ago that Rufus had him beat in almost every category imaginable.  Money, power, looks, style, manners and Reno was worried for precisely that reason.  Reeve wasn't a shallow man, but there weren't a lot of people in Midgar that could turn down Rufus Shinra.  Undoubtedly if Rufus were to go after him, he would fuck him, dump him and leave him in a worse state than he was to begin with. Reno only had to think back to what Reeve had told him about his past to come to that conclusion.

            "I wish you wouldn't.  You'd be much happier with somebody a little more understanding to the rules of COF's."

            "Casual Office Fucks? I'm not sure if you are trying to insult me or just doing it by accident.  Like I said it's not like you should have any say in any of this."

            No matter what Rufus said, he knew that Rufus realized how Reno felt about the whole thing.  He couldn't deny that he still had strong feelings for Reeve.  He had dreamed about those warm brown eyes and soft pale skin for more than a year.  He had also dreamed about that usually sweet friendly face twisted by pain and shock.  Those dreams never ceased to leave him with a winded and nauseous feeling when he woke himself up night after night.  Sometimes the faces were different, but the expression and feelings were always the same.

            "Are you deliberately trying to tease me?"

            Apparently the conversation had seemed to get a little too intense for Rufus and he seemed to fell the need to make a joke instead of a serious answer. "If I were doing that I would be using my tongue not words."

            Reno wasn't in the moods for joking though. "Then do it."

            The smile slipped off Rufus' face and his eyes went a little wider. "What?"

            "Maybe you should take out your frustrations out on who they are actually directed at instead.  A novelty for you I know, but hey it might be worth the try."

            "What makes you think that any of this has anything to do with you?"  Rufus asked a little too softly.

            Slowly, deliberately, Reno lifted his hand and ran his fingers over the side of Rufus' face and across his jaw before letting his fingertips trail lightly over his bottom lip.

            Rufus closed his eyes and seem to lean into the touch a little 

            Rufus was right, Reno shouldn't have a say in anything concerning Reeve anymore.  He had blown his rights to any of that.  It didn't mean that Reno couldn't do everything in his power to stop Rufus from doing anything that might cause the other man more grief in the long run.  

            _I am not the one._

            Fair enough, he knew that.  But he also knew for a fact that Rufus wasn't either.

            He took the chance while Rufus' eyes were closed to lean over the gap that separated the seats and plant a brief feathery kiss on the other man's lips.  He drew back fractionally when Rufus' eyes opened again.  Reno noted the half glazed look in the ice blue orbs.

            "Why did you do that?" He whispered.

            "To distract you."  Reno replied truthfully.

            "Distract me away from Reeve?  I told you it wasn't like that.  You're only making me think that there is something major that you would have to distract me from."

            "I can make up for that."  He assured him.

            "You're only doing this because of him aren't you?"

            "No."  It was only really a half lie.  

            "Not interested."  Rufus said boldly.

            Reno snaked a hand down to caress him through the thin material of his shorts eliciting a small moan from the other man.

            "You sure?"

            Rufus' eyes had closed again.  "No."

            "See now that's what I thought."

**************

            _"Reno?"  He choked out._

_            The question bought a slight chuckle from the other man.  Not out of amusement.  It was something else._

_            "Did I scare you?"_

_            The words chilled Reeve.  Not from what he said, but mainly from how they were spoken.  It was hardly Reno's voice.  Twisted some way, distorted.  Not Reno._

_            Just as it had been out on the street the other night when Kramer's building had gone up.  That hadn't been Reno.  Well not entirely.  Not the Reno he knew._

_            "What are you doing here?"  He stuttered._

_            The figure shifted slightly, head inclined to one side slightly._

_            "I came to see you."_

_            Reeve almost said; 'That's nice.' But stopped himself in time.  It didn't take all his remaining brain power to see the definite 'wrong' here._

_            "What happened to knocking?"_

_            Reeve noticed that his vision was starting to clear a little.  He started to make out a few details of the face in front of him.  _

_            The feral smile and dead eyes made the man in front of him appear very deranged._

_            Who's to say he's not?_

_            "I have keys.  Besides, I know how you like me to scare you."_

_            Reeve tired to break free from Reno's grip, but he just dug in tighter and stood.  He dragged Reeve up onto his feet, paying little heed to Reeve's painful grunts. Once they were both standing, he pushed Reeve in front of him._

_            "Move."  He commanded in a cold voice._

_            Reeve didn't._

_            He felt something sharp poke his bare back. He twisted around to see a knife in Reno's hand.  It was the one he had dropped when he slammed into the door._

_            He didn't wait for Reno to prod him again and started walking back, further into the apartment.  Reno steered him back into the direction of his bedroom._

_            Once there Reeve finally chanced to turn back to look at Reno._

_            Immediately he wished he hadn't._

_            Not once in their entire relationship did Reno ever scare him so much to make him fear for his life.  Reno was a Turk.  He did all sorts of nasty things for a living.  But Reeve never saw that part of his life.  Maybe he had been ignorant. But he hadn't cared.  And he had never worried.  Not even when Reno had him by the throat the other night at the bar.  Not like he felt now. Now he was very worried._

_            "I thought you didn't want to see me anymore."  Reeve tired again._

_            No matter how hard he tired he couldn't keep his voice as calm as he had hoped to sound._

_            "I didn't."  Reno told him simply.  "And no matter what I do, I can't seem to forget.  Believe me I've tried."_

_            He didn't sound sad or angry.  Reeve couldn't detect any emotion behind the words._

_            Reno continued. "But I don't mind so much anymore."_

_            "Why not?"_

_            "I've decided to give in. Do whatever the fuck I want to do."_

_            Reno raised the hand that held the knife and played with the tip of the blade with his fingertips.  The moonlight from the windows bounced off the silver blade, effectively drawing Reeve's eyes where Reno wanted them to be._

_            "Which is?"_

_            Reno stepped forward and rested the blade lightly on Reeve's chest, his eyes riveted to Reeve's._

_            "I want more."_

_            Reeve didn't have time to react before Reno added a small amount of pressure to the knife.  The sharp blade pierced his skin making a small cut.  Reeve gasped more in surprise rather than pain.  It wasn't a large cut, but it was deep enough for the wound to start leaking blood.  He felt the warm trickle run down his chest and over his stomach._

_            Reeve supposed he should be afraid of the madman that was holding him at knifepoint.  But for some inexplicable reason he became increasingly angry.  He had to actually fight down the urge to retaliate.  Until of course the infuriating bastard did it again this time slightly higher, up near his collar bone._

_            With reflexes he hardly knew he possessed he reached up and grabbed Reno's wrist._

_            "Stop."_

_            Reno seemed to regard him closely for a few seconds before bringing his other fist up into Reeve's belly.  _

_            Reeve grunted from the solid punch, the his anger made him a little numb to the pain.  He swung his own fist up to catch Reno's jaw.  Reno was pushed back a few steps, enough to give Reeve a little breathing space.  He settled into the fighting stance that Reno had taught him, prepared for the other man's comeback._

_            Reno straightened up and moved his jaw experimentally, but he didn't try to come closer.  _

_            Instead Reno started laughing.  Not an amused chuckle as usual, but a full blown maniacal laugh._

_            Here Reeve was prepared to enter into a fight he knew he couldn't possibly win, and Reno was actually laughing at him._

_            "What the hell is /wrong/ with you Reno!?"_

_            Reno threw the knife over his shoulder and launched himself at Reeve._

_            He was too quick and Reeve couldn't have got a single shot in before Reno tackled him, toppling the two back onto the bed. The resulting struggled ended with Reno pinning both of Reeve's hands above his head and sitting on top of him to prevent Reeve moving any further.  Still it didn't stop Reeve from squirming or trying to buck the other man off him._

_            "Now now Reeve, I just want a taste."_

_            Reno slid further down his body and ran his tongue up the blood trail down Reeve's torso, slowly as if savoring the taste._

_            "I knew you'd taste good."  Reno told his captive.  _

_            Reeve realized that his pitiful struggles weren't doing him any good.  In fact it just seemed to add to Reno's enthusiasm.  So he stopped._

_            Reno raised an eyebrow at him.  "Giving up so soon?"_

_            "Why are you doing this?"  He asked._

_            "Because I can.  Because I want to."_

_            "You don't want to do this.  Not like /this/."  Reeve told him.  "You're not like this."_

_            Reno's expression turned to stone.  "What the fuck do you know about me!"_

_            Despite Reno's yelling in his face, Reeve felt a little sense of accomplishment.  Reno's anger only meant that he had been able to get through to him._

_            "I know a lot more than you'd think.  Stop pretending to be this monster that you think you are!  I know that you /Reno/ are not like this!"  He yelled back almost as equally angry.  "If you were really like this I wouldn't...."_

_            He guessed that Reno knew what he was about to say and cut him off before he had a chance to finish with a blow to the side of his head._

_            Reeve's head snapped to the side with the force of the blow. He tried to strike back, but Reno was able to pin both of his hands with just one of his._

_            He couldn't strike back with his fists but he could with words._

_            "I love you." He said softly, truthfully._

_            Reno seemed to freeze up as if he had totally turned to stone.  Reeve caught something flicker briefly if Reno's eyes, but it was gone too quickly._

_            Reeve had seen it though.  Something was still there, and he know felt some hope that he may be able to talk Reno out of whatever he had in mind.  At least until the cavalry arrived._

_            Where the fuck /is/ Rufus!_

_            Reno snapped his attention back into focus again._

_            "Don't move."_

_            Reno released his grip on Reeve's wrists and straightened._

_            Reeve wasn't going to move.  He was well aware of Reno might do to him if he continued to try to escape.  But there was something else.  He guessed that he wanted to see how far Reno would go before he stopped.  Even if he did stop.  Normally he wouldn't have been so stupid to want to stay and find out, but some sick part of his mind was curious about this crazed man.  _

_            He wanted to know if Reno could go through with it._

_            Does he still feel deeply enough to know when to stop.  To stop before it's too late?_

_            When Reeve thought about it a bit more he realized just what a twisted way it was to finally found out how Reno felt about him.  But he couldn't will himself to move.  As if deep down he still believed that Reno cared.  He had seen that brief flicker of emotion.  Was it enough?_

_            Without waiting any longer Reno started undoing the buckle on Reeve's trousers.  Reeve didn't say anything, nor did he move to stop him._

_            Once done Reno moved, pulling the pants down along with his underwear in one quick move.  Still, Reeve kept still._

_            Reno picked up the discarded knife off the floor by his feet._

_            Reeve lost his resolve._

_            "Reno..."_

_            He wanted to beg.  To plead with the man to stop.  Whatever he was going through, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.  He had begged with men before, begged for them to stop beating and hurting him.  The thought that he might have to do this with Reno was almost too much.  He wasn't meant to be like those other bastards.  He was meant to be something better, something nicer, something that didn't remind Reeve of self induced nightmares and bad decisions.  Someone that wasn't one of those nightmares or bad decisions.  He was supposed to be someone that had finally cared enough for Reeve to really care back._

_            "...I don't want you to be one of them."_

_            Reno crawled back up the bed sliding the blade across Reeve's bare skin as he moved higher.  The cold steel sent shivers over Reeve's skin as though it was an ice cube.  Reeve doubted it had much to do with the temperature though._

_            "Well I am.  If it would make you feel more at home I'll leave a twenty on the counter as I leave."_

_            Reeve almost choked.  Stunned that Reno would ever throw that back at him.  The knife climbed higher up toward his throat, Reno following close behind._

_            Now Reeve silent for completely different reasons.  He had literally been stunned silent, immobile.  It had been more effective than a blow to the head._

_            Instead he just turned his head to the side and looked out the window.  It was a trick he had learnt long ago.  If Reno wanted to treat him that way, then there would be nothing to stop him from acting like that.  He didn't want to revert back to that but he couldn't help it, it was more of an automatic action rather than a conscious thought. As he gazed out the window he became less aware of what was happening to his body.  Both his mind and body seemed to go somewhat numb.  He was still aware of what was happening, but he refused to take notice._

_            He could feel Reno slide further up his body, following the trail made by the knife with quick hot flicks of his tongue.   He felt Reno clamp his lips over one of his nipples, the sensitive skin unconsciously reacting to the treatment.  He felt his teeth graze across before actually clamping down for a brief instant of pain.  But he never flinched.  Never spoke.  It was easier just to pretend that he was somewhere else._

_            Unlike those times in the past though, part of his mind was still very aware of the situation.  That this was Reno doing this to him.  This was Reno treating him this way.  It wasn't like those other nameless, faceless people.  It was Reno.  Someone he had trusted completely.  Someone he still loved even now.  And he was all too aware of the warm trickle that snaked down his cheek ending its journey on the blankets below him._

_            The blade of the knife rested lightly against Reeve's throat as Reno finally drew himself up to actually face the man underneath him.  Suddenly he stopped.  Watching Reeve's face as he gazed out of the window, he slid the knife away from the other man's throat and placed it within easy reach by his left side._

_            Roughly he grabbed Reeve's chin and forced the man to look up at him.  Reeve's eyes vacantly stared at him.  Looking at him, but not seeing him. The warm wet trail of a tear streaking his left cheek._

_            "Don't you dare do that!  Don't you dare zone out!" Reno yelled at him._

_            Reeve didn't seem to be paying attention, at least not as far as Reno could see._

_            Reno's grip tightened.  _

_            "Godamnit look at me Reeve!"_

_            Reeve's eyes seemed to refocus on him.  Finally he seemed as though his brain was back in control and not wandering.  With that came emotion._

_            Reno almost faltered when he looked at Reeve's expression._

_            It was one of pure agony._

_            Not physical, as he had expected, hoped for even.  This was different._

_            This was real pain._

_            For a second something seemed to pass in front of his eyes.  _

_            Again something different.  Something real._

_            Reeve hadn't wanted for Reno to break his concentration, but it couldn't be helped when the man was yelling in his face.  He was surprised though that he was longer angry, and even more surprised that he no longer cared what Reno did to him.  He welcomed any chance to make it stop.  All his life he had been trying to get away from people that made him feel this way.  Ever since he had grown out of whatever psychosis had made him want to experience such things.  But the thought occurred to him that this may never happen.  No matter what he did, this is how his life was going to turn out.  _

_            Was he subconsciously attracted to people like those who used to pick him up outside that bar in Junon?  Or was everybody simply like this?  Perhaps it was all he deserved._

_            Once Reno had shocked him back into alertness, he figured he might as well speak up.  He only hoped that Reno still thought enough of him to grant him one last small request._

_            "Did you come here to kill me?"  Reeve asked with a calmness he hadn't thought possible._

_            Reno didn't answer.  He just watched Reeve's face.  He looked as though he was trying to gauge the best response to such a direct question._

_            Reeve continued, "I get the feeling that you did.  But if you didn't I have a request."_

_            Reno was silent for a moment longer before asking, "What?"_

_            "That you do it anyway." _

_            "What?"_

_            "I can't do this anymore.  And you can't leave me like this."_

_            More tears appeared to follow the first, spilling down either side of his face.  He hated to look so weak at such  a moment, but he couldn't help it anymore.  Each tear stung more than any blow that Reno had thrown at him all night.  But he still kept silent, awaiting Reno's response._

_The look fled Reno's face in that instant and somehow that seemed wrong. The intense gaze came back into his eyes and he looked down at his captive again and gave him that feral smile once more.  Somewhere inside Reeve, he knew this was wrong. This was not how it was supposed to go. He didn't know how he knew that, he just did. This was different, this was worse._

_"You want me to kill you?"_

_Reeve nodded fractionally._

_Reno's tipped his head to the side as if thinking the proposition over. Finally the smile grew and Reno leaned down closer to whisper his answer directly in front of Reeve's face. _

_"No. I didn't come here to kill you. I came here to have you. You're mine now, forever. You'll exist for me and bow to my every whim. You're used to that aren't you? Being used. You enjoy it too I'll bet. And you won't get out of this as easily as dying."_

_To his own horror, Reeve found himself strangely wanting that. He belonged to Reno. Reno would keep him alive just to visit him like this and take want he wanted. He imaged that this would happen every night, and he felt eager for it even. At the same time he was horrified at his own thoughts. He knew he didn't want that. Not like this, not ever again. It was sickening, but at the same time, oddly exciting. The saner part of his mind still wanted it all to end, and he clung to that. Clung to whatever sanity still remained him._

_"No."_

_"Yes."_

_Reno leant in further his lips almost brushing Reeve's._

_"Yes."_

_Then he felt the pain as if someone had plunged a kitchen knife into his stomach._

*

With a yell, Reeve sat bolt upright in his bed breathing hard. A hand went to his stomach where he'd felt the pain, but there was nothing there, no mark. His shirt felt damp from sweat and he was shaking slightly as he raised the hand to brush damp, dark strands away from his sweaty forehead.

Eventually he managed to regain some sort of control over his breathing and threw the covers off himself. He got up onto shaky feet and went to the kitchen for a cool glass of water. He didn't bother turning on any lights, he knew his way around his own apartment without them. The blackness was somewhat soothing anyway.

Instead of going back to his bedroom he went out onto the balcony for a breath off cool air and a chance to sooth his nerves before he even thought about sleep again. He sat down and looked out over the city. Cool night. A very quiet night for Midgar actually. Not that he had had a chance to notice this small fact till now. Up until about five or so minutes ago it had felt and sounded like the noisiest, hottest night Midgar had ever seen.  His body was still covered in sweat, no matter the frigid air. Absently he rubbed his forearms to try and get himself to relax and stop the goosebumps from rising up on his skin. While he may have felt hot, his body was reacting to being cold.

Seeking anything to keep his mind off dealing with things, he raised his eyes to the sky above him. He had hoped to see some stars or the moon, but the sky was covered in a thick cloud haze that only allowed the barest amounts of moonlight to reach through. It reflected his thoughts perfectly really. Clouded, hazy and filled with very little light. Regardless, it was a nice night out and he felt more like staying out here rather than trying to get more sleep. While he'd thought he'd gotten rid of most of the nightmares and dreams, he'd found they'd come back with a vengeance since Tseng had come to see him almost a week ago now. Sleeping tablets helped, but he was loathed to use them. For some reason he felt less comfortable in the knowledge that he would spend the night in a deep drugged sleep where little could wake him. Or maybe something about tonight's dream had been somewhat accurate and he secretly wanted them to continue. He desperately hoped not. He didn't usually remember much about each little dream and nightmare, but tonight's had been a little different. It did more than worry him actually. Not about Reno. At first maybe it had been. It wasn't really the man that scared him anymore, more the hurt that did. And more recently, his reactions to that hurt. 

With still a few good hours of time left before daylight, he decided to stay awake.

*******

_Okay so this whole chapter was a little fucked up. I'm going to have a dream sequence by just about everyone by the time I'm done and none will be happy. Sorry about the long flashback thing, I hope not all of you simply spun through it after realizing it was just the ass end of chapter 10 of the last one. Cause this time it had a different ending. And yeah, who picked Reno's last words in that bit from another fic. Don't hurt yourself trying to figure out how Reeve dreamed those exacts words, I'm not quite sure myself. And for the other part of this chapter; _

_How the fuck did Reno and Rufus end up in the sack so quick? Assuming they did actually do anything after we left them of course. You should really never assume anything in my works. Teehee. And why did I have to write Rufus in his boxer shorts without writing a part that takes full advantage of that fact? And who the hell says that I will allow Reno and Rufus to get all cosy anyhow?  Not everything is that simple in my stories and I don't intend to start making them that way now.  To see if they did the nasty you'll have to wait till the next chapter folks.  I'm sorry but that's the way it's got to be.  That and I'm not entirely sure of the outcome myself ;)   I dwelt on the Reeve dilemma again. _

_Oh well, I guess that's kind of the point._

_AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_All my stories can be found of the 70th Floor Office at Neo Midgar_

_http://www,geocities.com/anime_fearie/_

_Come, join my mailing list! Discuss the fic with those that understand the insanity!_


	3. A Night Of Intrigue

What You Do To Me

_By AF_

Chapter 3

A Night Of Intrigue

            The most basic thing that Rufus was aware of was the hands. A pair of hands ceaselessly roaming his body. Caressing, touching, feeling  their way over is body in delightful patterns designed to draw every moan possible from his sensitive skin.

            He reasoned that although the hands seemed to know exactly where to touch him, and exactly when, he knew he could somehow retain some sense of power in this situation.

            He was Rufus Shinra for gods sakes! One of the most powerful names in Midgar. He couldn't let himself be ruled by another no matter how much the 'other' could make him scream.

            All his life he'd been told what to do, how to behave, where to go, who to socialize with, how to dress.

            _'Stand up straight'_

_            'You'll have the opinions I tell you to have'_

_            'You're not to see that person any longer'_

_            'It's a fine school and you'll go where I tell you to go'_

_            'Do as you're told!'_

He'd begun to break free of that now. Enough remained though. Enough reminders of who he was and more importantly, it seemed, whose he was. While half of his life was spent being the dutiful son and worker, the other half was spent doing completely the opposite. Drinking, hanging out with the morally retarded like Reno, fucking faceless, nameless woman and basically pissing off any person stupid enough to give him more than an unwelcome sideways glance.

            Bit late in life for a childish rebellion phase, but he'd grasp anything to keep himself at least a little more grounded in the real world.  Anything to stop himself turning into a mindless robot, or even worse, his father.

            The hands slid further down his body making him bite his lip to stifle a moan.

            Control was essential at times like this. /He/ was the important person. /He/ was the one in control.

            Wasn't he?

            He could almost smell the other person now. Spicy, clean. See the bright eyes mere inches from his own. Pale lips moist from earlier kissing frenzies. 

            He wanted so much to lean forward and kiss those lips again until bruising. And why couldn't he? He /was/ in control of all this.

            Right?

            Wasn't he?

            A second later those eyes went away. His mind seemed to wander without those brilliant orbs looking down on him. He didn't want to think about other things, he didn't want to break his concentration from his pleasure. 'Other things' were painful to think about. He didn't want that!

            In vain he tried to remember those eyes that had looked down on him so warmly.  He could still feel the person's hands, the person's body sliding over his own, slick with seat, warm with body heat. But he wanted to see the person's face again.

            In irritation he found himself unable to even remember the color of the eyes that had held so much warmth for him.

            Blue?

            Brown?

            Neither?

            Both?

            _How can a person's eyes be both brown and blue?_

Suddenly the hands also left him. He couldn't even feel the slightest feathery touch grace his exposed skin. He was about to open his mouth to protest but the words died on his lips as he felt a warm mouth take him in. Instead he threw his head back with the unexpected but entirely welcome pleasure, a barely audible groan sounding from deep in his throat.

            He opened his eyes again after the initial shock to find his gaze now angled up toward the ceiling to make a rather odd discovery. Slightly above him there was a mirror. It was suspended seemingly by nothing, a few feet above him and his companion.

            He could see the back of a fairly non descript head of shoulder length medium colored hair moving slightly down between pale legs.

            Seemingly of their own accord, his eyes were drawn up to meet his own gaze in the mirror.  He felt that there was something about his reflection was important. Something was wrong. But the delightful attention he was receiving from his partner was distracting his mind from it and he found himself unable to focus properly.

            _Damnit, control yourself!_

Easier said than done. What this person was doing for him was not a new experience to say the least. But Rufus found himself running his fingers through the rough strands of the person's hair, not urging like usual, just resting, enjoying the feel of the other person.

            This wasn't like usual. He wasn't in control. These feelings were being spurred on by something deeper. Something he couldn't identify. 

            The feelings running through him intensified as did he physical pleasure mounting in his body. He closed his eyes momentarily in a sign of defeat. It was so easy and nice to give in…..But so uncertain.

            _I can't do this!_

_            Control yourself!_

In a moment of rebellion against surrender, his brain kicked back into gear, clearing his mind of the emotional haze that cluttered his senses. His eyes flew open to meet his own as before in the cool silver glass above him.  This time the difference registered, but not the meaning.

            He looked a little paler than he remembered, but for some reason a much smaller inconsistency stood out more starkly. Twin brown eyes stared back at him from beneath his usual soft golden bangs. A deep chestnut that seemed too luminous. Unnaturally so as if they were meant to capture his attention as surely as any other detail on his face.  More so even.

            _My eyes are blue._

********************

            Rufus groaned as the latest Midgar chart topper filled his bedroom with stunning volume. Reaching over to the offensive device, he swept it off his nightstand and onto the floor where it landed with a satisfying breaking sound.

            He sighed contently at the silence.

            If he were motivated enough he'd call downstairs of a night and get them to give him a wakeup call instead of having to brave the latest  pop sensation bursting into his bedroom at 6:30 every morning. The guards that manned the desk downstairs were usually unreliable though.

            Maybe he should have taken Scarlet's advice and order a more 'hands on' wakeup call. Undoubtedly the desk guard in Scarlet's building was absent from his post doing just that about now. He did vaguely remember the new brunette girl that had been hired in for the morning shift…

            The thought soon soured in his mind as images from his dream last night began to soak back into his sleep weary senses. Now that he had been conscious for a few minutes, he could remember only hazy portions of it, but enough to make him feel quite a variety of differing emotions at once. 

            Uncertain, irritated, confused and, not surprisingly, vaguely aroused. 

            As someone that prided himself on not reading into things too abstract and therefore easily misunderstood, Rufus quickly pushed the dream from his mind and concentrated on the things in front of him.

            He definitely wasn't a bright cheery morning person, but he looked forward to the day's plan. Tonight, after countless months of putting it off, he and Reeve were finally going to dig into the late Mr. Kramer's accounting problems. And Rufus enjoyed nothing more than a little espionage, even if it looked as though it was within his own company. But especially if it was something important that someone had neglected on purpose, to tell him about.

            With a heavy sigh, Rufus rolled out of bed and stretched his muscles out of their sleepy stiffness. Leaving the bedroom, he made his way into the kitchen. Pausing by the coffee machine, he reached up and took a coffee cup down from the cupboard above his head and flipped the machine on.

            While he waited he shook a cigarette out of the package on the bench beside him and lit it, leaning back against the cupboard. Sighing contently again, he allowed himself to relax and his mind to wander.

            One problem Rufus found that came with not being a morning person was the lack of memory he seemed to have upon awakening. On such Saturday mornings this was usually coupled with the hangover he usually woke up with. But not today. He remembered that last night he hadn't really been drinking a lot.

            So now, what usually took place at about this time every morning, Rufus' mind started to reconstruct his memories. 

            Why wasn't he drinking much last night?

            _Reno was there, _he remembered. He didn't really feel like getting into much of a party mood.

            Rufus smiled slightly as he remembered decking the man in the bathroom.

            Then he remembered something else that almost made him bite his cigarette in half.

            _Oh…my…gods…_

The coffee machine beeped on the counter telling him that his coffee was ready. Rufus ignored it.

            Removing the cigarette from his mouth in fear of dropping it, he padded back into his bedroom, lay down and drew the covers back up over his body.

            He'd decided to go back to sleep.

            It wasn't worth being awake on days like this. At least when he woke up again later, he'd be oblivious of everything again for a little while.

*************************************************

            "You did what?"

            Reno stopped walking back up the basketball court and looked down at his sneakers.

            "I didn't know what to do. I thought I could distract him."

            Rude looked at his friend calmly before taking a casual shot at the basket. So far their one on one game of basketball wasn't exactly like their usual game. At least it /was/ until Reno had dropped his little bombshell.

            "Reno you distract your friends by taking them out for a drink and talking things over. You don't fuck them in a parked car on a badly lit street." Rude took note of the serious expression on the other man's face before continuing. "Well most people don't anyway." He amended. 

            Reno caught the ball on the rebound and dribbled it back up to the top of the key. "I didn't fuck him. I honestly don't know if I would've went that far. But I didn't get a chance to find out, he told me to stop being a dick and drove me home."

            :"Just like that huh?"

            Reno stopped and smirked. "Well he almost ran into three telegraph poles. But yeah, just like that. Think I shook him up a little."

            Rude stopped and regarded his friend. It was good to see Reno smile. It reminded him so much of the old Reno that he almost forgot that Tseng has told him to keep a close eye on his fellow Turk. Since Reno had come back from his 'vacation', Rude found it hard to believe there had ever been anything wrong with the man. Occasionally Reno would get this weird look on his face when he was sitting off by himself. But with everything that had happened, Rude would have been worried if he didn't see Reno in those moments of dark reflection. He'd had a lot to sort through apparently, more than Rude realized. Tseng had hinted that there was more in Reno's past than even Rude was aware of, but Tseng hadn't exactly been forthcoming with the details. But that was fine with Rude. So long as Reno looked and sounded like his old self, Rude couldn't complain.

            There was only one difference. The old Reno would never have tried what he apparently did last night with Rufus Shinra.

            "Shook him up a little? Had that been me, there would have been no 'almost running into telegraphs poles' about it."

            Reno smiled sweetly. "Had it been you, I would have welcomed each and every pole."

            Rude laughed lightly and made a lunge for the ball in Reno's hands. The quick Turk avoided Rude  easily and made another shot at the basket. The shot, unlike Rude's, went in.

            "I don't know why I bother playing this with you anymore. You're twice as fast as me." Rude grumbled.

            "You play because you're twice as big as me and I don't bitch when you foul me."

            Rude caught the ball but didn't bother pretending to play on. "So you think your clever distraction worked?"

            Reno walked over the back line and picked up his water bottle, shrugging. "Dunno. Don't know how serious he was anyway. I probably did it for nothing. I just didn't want Rufus, well, being Rufus ya know?"

            Rude had to agree. He only had to remember hearing about all the secretaries that had run crying from Rufus' office to know what Reno was talking about.

            "So have you seen him?" Reno asked suddenly, with such an air of casual coolness, that Rude knew it was being forced.

            "Who Rufus?" Feigning ignorance. There was no need to ask who 'he' was. And it certainly wasn't Rufus.

            Reno sat on the cracked tar as Rude settled beside him and hot Rude a look of annoyance.

            Rude sighed. "Yeah. I've seen him around. Him and Tseng seem to be good buddies these days. But he mostly hangs with Rufus. Gods know why. Probably because they're the only two up on the executive level under  the age of 35 and still seem to be relatively sane."

            "He's good buddies with Tseng?" Reno asked genuinely surprised.  "When did this happen?"

            "After Kramer's….accident we were pulled for bodyguard duty mostly. After you left there was only me and Tseng so Soldier took over most of the assignments that we couldn't handle.  So we were mostly stuck on that detail for a good long while. Still are on occasion. The President, Rufus, Scarlet, Heidigar, Palmer, Hojo and Reeve. Cassian, Tyler, Randall, Crowly, Me, Fife and Tseng respectively. Until rotation of course. But Tseng did a bit of reorganizing with Cassian so he was kept with Reeve mostly."

            Reno had gotten that weird look again at the mention of Kramer, but he seemed to snap out of it quick enough.

            "Why did Tseng stay with Reeve?" A sudden look of concern flashed briefly across his features. "Was Reeve in danger of something?"

            As soon as he said it, Reno felt like laughing. Of course Reeve had been in danger from the people responsible for Kramer. He had been in danger from Reno. But Tseng and Rude hadn't started guard duty till after Reno had left Midgar and after that the threat to Reeve would have left with him. The reason he had felt like laughing at such a sick revelation was because he had totally forgotten for a moment that he had been responsible for blowing up a rather large apartment building and therefore killing the Head of the Accounting Department at Shinra Inc. Not exactly something many normal people might forget very quickly. Then again, Reno never had fit into the definition of 'normal'. He hadn't been joking when he'd told Rufus about the voids in his memory.

            "You might say that." Was Rude's belated reply.

            Reno looked as though he'd tasted something sour. "My mind isn't quite what it used to be." It was true enough, and there were probably quite a few people that were relieved about that. Things came and went from his mind, some he remembered, some, he was only just beginning to. "But when I left Midgar…" Reno began.

            "Not from you." Rude cut him off.

            Reno cast a sideways glance at his friend and was surprised to discover Rude's jaw clenched tightly. It was obvious that the big guy didn't want to talk about it. That was fine by Reno. He had to see Tseng anyhow.

"So you've seen him." Reno said bringing the conversation back on track.  Rude's face relaxed and he nodded, readjusting the glasses on his face.

            "How's he look?"

            Now Rude turned to face his friend, one eyebrow slightly raised. "He looks like Reeve, Reno."

            Reno rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

            "Tired." Rude said simply.

            "Tired?"

            Apart from that he looks good. Hair's a little longer, new growth on his face, little thinner. Tired. But good."

            Reno let go of the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding. "That's good."  Then Reno's head came up fast as something struck him. "New growth on his face?"

            Rude nodded not missing Reno's bizarre response. "A little beard or something."

            "That would be a goatee Rude." Reno told him smugly. "A goatee."

            "You gonna talk to him?"

            Up until now Reno hadn't been so sure. Rufus' words had made sense. He would just end up doing something stupid and totally un-Reno-like that he would regret later. That he would make things worse by getting involved.

            Now Reno was sure on his course of action though.

            "When I get a chance. Yes."

            "Sure that's a good idea?"

            Reno groaned  "Not you too?"

            "He's got a lot on his plate right now. Things are getting pretty hectic. The new designs for the building are going to be approved this week. He's in charge of the plans and overseeing construction. And…"

            "And?"

            "And I don't know." Something is going on in the company. Tseng's all worried about something. Rufus and Reeve seem to have some secret investigation going on with the Accounting Department. Scarlet's cannon has been approved for Junon. The President's increased the rates. Again."

            "What does Tseng have to worry about anymore? Any why do all these things have any bearing on whether I talk to Reeve or not?"

            "He'd stressed enough." Rude sighed heavily. "The reactor out in Gongaga exploded a couple of weeks ago."

            Reno almost choked on the mouthful of water he had been swallowing. "Gongaga exploded?"

            "That's one way of putting it." Rude replied dryly. "Another way would be to say that there are bits and pieces of it strewn all over the Gongagan forests in a radius of ten miles or more."

            "And nobody thought to tell me this?"

            "You didn't ask."

            "Well next time I leave Midgar for a while I'll have to remember that to be the first thing I ask upon my return. 'Say did any reactors blow  up while I was gone?'" Reno settled down again and ran a hand absently through his messy hair. "I was too busy with shit out in Junon mostly. I guess he isn't taking it particularly well. That one was just repaired  wasn't it? Sabotage?"

            "Tseng thinks so."

            "And you?" Reno asked hearing the doubt in his friends' voice.

            "It was an old reactor. There's nobody out that far that would do this."

            "I wouldn't put it past them. I mean how busy have we been here lately? Even out in Junon. It seems as though every week we have a new group to contend with. It's getting a little crowded around here if you catch my meaning."

            "I aught to. It wasn't very subtle."

            "Hardy har," Reno replied sarcastically. "You'll see I'm right. I bet you a million gil that by this time next year that pretty little tower up there will be in flames." He concluded making a vague seeping motion toward the distant Shinra Building.

            "I hope you mean metaphorically, otherwise we might be in there when it happens."

            Reno hauled himself to his feet and grabbed the ball off the ground. "Maybe I should quit."

            "You an' me both."

            "You me and Maggie in a little cottage out near Cosmo with our chickens and cows hiding from the world."

            "Your starting to sound like Mags. She thinks things are getting a little hairy. Besides, you wouldn't like it. I think you'll keep your job just to see how exciting it gets near the end. You'd do that too wouldn't you? The only person I know that would keep their eyes open on purpose if you were falling off a building just in case you might miss something worth looking at."

            "The view would definitely be to die for." Reno agreed.

****

            "You look terrible."

            Rufus gave Reeve an unimpressed look as he stood at the open doorway to the man's apartment.

            "Done with the pleasantries?" Rufus asked sardonically, "Or do you want to comment on my clothes as well?"

            Reeve gave him a slightly embarrassed look and moved aside for him to enter the apartment. "Sorry." He apologized shutting the door after Rufus. "But you always look so…immaculate."

            Dumping his briefcase on the dining room table across the room, Rufus turned back to look at Reeve in slight amusement. "Immaculate?"

            "Neat, tidy, well groomed, expensive clothes. Immaculate."

            Rufus didn't quite know what to say. "Thanks?"

            Reeve let out a small chuckle at Rufus' confusion. "It's okay. Beer?"

            "Most definitely."

            Nodding, Reeve disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes while Rufus opened his case and began to sort through his papers.  Reeve reappeared and handed a cold beer to Rufus. "Most of what I was able to find in the last few weeks is on the table there next to you."

            Rufus had noticed the mound of papers sitting next to him neatly on the table but had paid it no heed thinking it was some of Reeve's other work. Surely that pile couldn't all be part of, what Rufus had started to call after one particularly irritable afternoon collecting information, 'Kramer's Crap'.

            "You're joking right?"

            Reeve took a long sip of beer and shook his head. "Afraid not. You asked for the Accounts on all departments for the last couple of years and there it is."

            "Kramer's Crap indeed." Rufus muttered.

            This was going to be a very long night.

********

            Rufus reached out and grabbed a cigarette out of the open packet sitting in front of him without looking up from the notes sitting in front of him. Unfortunately his luck didn't continue as he went to light it and almost burnt his thumb on the lighter.

            "Fuck." He swore harshly before sticking his thumb into his mouth.

            Reeve looked up and smiled in a way that made it obvious he was trying not to laugh. "Are you okay?"

            "Fine." Rufus mumbled around his thumb.

            Throwing down his pen, he stretched in his chair, happy at least that almost setting himself on fire had given him an excuse to take a break from working. He cast a glance at the clock over Reeve's head, astonished to find that he'd already been here for four hours. Only now did he start to feel the soreness in his eyes from spending too much time reading.

            "It's midnight."

            "It is?" Reeve asked, not looking up.

            Reeve definitely didn't sound tired. If anything he looked more alert than when Rufus had first stepped in the door. 

Rufus didn't have to think too long as to why Reeve thought he looked like shit himself. After his remembered memory of the night before, Rufus had craved something mind numbing to fill his day. He had spent almost six hours at the gym before heading straight for Reeve's and his exhaustion must have been evident as he'd walked in.

Still he doubted, even if he'd spent his entire day sleeping, that he'd look as bright eyed as Reeve did right now. Rufus watched carefully as he went about sorting through the contents of each page. Dark hair falling slightly over a face of rapt enthusiasm. One leg clad in gray cotton pants propped up on the chair with him, sometimes leaning on it to write when the space in front of him became too overflowing with other papers.

_Here is a man who is very used to working through the night with massive amounts of work. And perhaps a mite too unused to relaxing._

Finally Reeve looked up to find Rufus' gaze still lingering on him. "What?" He asked timidly.

Rufus smiled. "You just look a little too comfortable sitting there with all that work for my tastes."

Reeve returned the look of amusement and nodded. "Too many nights spent in practice I'm afraid."

Rufus leant back in his chair and motioned to and invisible waiter behind him. "Quick get this man a life, as soon as possible."

            Reeve laughed at Rufus and stood, stretching to get all the cricks out of his stiff neck and shoulders. "Hungry?"

            "Pizza?"

            "Done."

            Reeve went over to the phone by his door and pressed one of his speed dial buttons. Rufus shook his head, not at all surprised. After  a few moments of talking, Reeve replaced the receiver and wandered back over to the table.

            "So what do we know so far?" Reeve asked hopefully indicating to the massive stack of papers covering the table.

            Rufus groaned in disgust at the reminder. "Not much more than we before we started. Just that the Science Department have gone over their budget in a steadily increasing manner  for almost a decade. Before that, who knows. But as I pointed out to begin with, everything that goes over budget has to be presidential approved. And it has been. All of it. It isn't even for that much. A couple of thousand here an there, but nothing that any other department doesn't usually apply for." Rufus picked up a sheaf of paper he'd been making notes on and scowled at it as if it were the source of his confusion, "I mean Scarlet  went over her budget last year by one hundred and fifty thousand. The year that the Shinra No.26 was scheduled for launch, Palmer went over his by close to a million. Heidigar always goes over his. Sometimes as much as fifty thousand every quarter. But everything looks like it is as it should be. Every little increase has been approved." Rufus threw the paper back down on the table in disgust. "I haven't the foggiest idea what Kramer was wanting me to investigate."

            Reeve creased his brow and picked up a piece of his own note paper. "Just one thing I picked up that I can't make sense of."

            "Mmmm?"

            "My department has been going over budget as well. A few grand each year it would seem. Not much I know, but interesting."

            "How so?" Rufus asked wearily rubbing his eyes through closed lids.

            "Well I'm the head of the department. I would think I should know if we were going over budget. As near as I can tell we have actually gone below most years and I've never approved any increase since the number eight needed repairs."

            Rufus stopped rubbing his eyes and looked up at Reeve with an unbelieving stare. "You're sure?"

            "Why wouldn't I be? It /is/ my department." Reeve answered absently, eyes still on his notes. "I was thinking that if Accounting was wrong about my department, maybe they were wrong with some of the others," Rufus' eyes seemed to widen at this point, "So I looked at the reasons given for the increases and most of it looks real enough, but some of these excuses are laughable." He picked up another sheet and studied it for a few moments. Eventually it took Rufus' feigned cough to nudge him farther. "Well, here it shows the copy of the approval form that went to Accounting." He crossed to Rufus and lay the form on the table in front of him so Rufus could see what he was talking about. 

            Rufus couldn't.

            "See here?" Reeve asked pointing, ""It is the list of things the Department for Public Safety and Administrative Research felt it couldn't possibly do without. Now correct me if I'm wrong but I would think that the most costly aspect of that department is the Turks and Soldier."

            Rufus nodded.

            "Now unless," Reeve continued, "the Turks are bribing every official in the city then emptying their guns into them, I find it hard to believe that they could possibly go through that much loose cash and ammo. I won't even go into detail about the ridiculous claimed medical expenses."

            Rufus felt his hope begin to dwindle. "The Turks are notorious for their bullshit expense itinerary. You're are right, with what they have claimed here they would have enough ammo to go on a killing spree and wipe out all the inhabitants of half the city and then have enough cash to buy the leftover. But I could probably /assure/ you that every gil is accounted for, even it is in form of a couple of cases of liquor rather than bullets. And those medical expenses are real. Reno's responsible for all but three."

            Rufus seemed deflated at this, but Reeve didn't seem put off in the least, apparently certain his point was valid.

            "Okay, here's another example. Department of Technology and Space Exploration. If you can name me one reason that Palmer needs to go over budget since the Space Program went under I'll back off."

            Rufus sighed once again, the last traces of hope finally fleeing. "You need to be in on the delicate fabric of office gossip Reeve. It tells you many interesting facts. For instance, did you know that apart from Palmer's obvious eating problems, he also has a rather big gambling problem for which the proprietor of the Golden Saucer almost had the stupid fat oaf beaten up for? I'm not saying you're wrong. The information probably was falsified so Palmer could get the money to pay his debts off."

            "And what if I told you that once you get over credit by as much as 20GP at any place in the Gold Saucer they start denying entrance to you until you pay off the debt?"

            "I would say that such rules probably don't apply to all people. Especially not someone as seemingly wealthy and important as a top Shinra Exec."

            "Then I would tell you that you were wrong. Dio isn't about to risk a massive gambling debt for anything,, he knows better than that. If you make exceptions for one, you have to make them for others. So suddenly instead of having one person owe him over a thousand gil, he has twenty people owing him that. I've seen and heard about enough wealthy men getting turned away at the door for a measly 20GP debts to know this for fact. My father was one of Dio's closest friends, he was even involved in the construction of most of the park, until he got into debt. Then even his close friend wouldn't allow him to place bets until all debts had been repaid."

            During Reeve's speech, Rufus' facial features had begun to go through a change for unbelieving through to total shock that quickly melted to open astonishment. "You're saying that the rumors are false."

            ""I'm saying that they may have even been started so nobody would need to question why Palmer might need a hundred gil for a light bulb, or a thousand gil for a new stapler."

            "He set the proper paper down in front of Rufus so he could see for himself.

            "Why didn't you say something when you saw this!" Rufus exclaimed.

            Reeve made a weak gesture. "You looked involved. Besides it didn't really click until I read the report on my own department."

            Rufus made a happy little noise in his throat that beamed brightly at Reeve. "I'd kiss you if it didn't infringe on the degree of coolness I'm trying to maintain."

            "I think you blew it when you made that little noise just then."

            Rufus ignored the last comment. "So you think this might be happening with all the departments? Not just yours and Palmers?"

            "I wouldn't be surprised. I would like to talk with all the departments head to make sure."

            "Subtly of course.

            "Of course." Reeve affirmed. "Want to split them between us?"

            "A sage suggestion, but I think that for the good of your career, you shouldn't follow through on this one with me."

            "Rufus…"

            "I mean it. If you're right, somebody is going through a lot of trouble to embezzle hundreds and thousands of company money here and for all we know it could be any one of the company heads. Digging my nose in where it doesn't belong seems to be my job description and it's a little too late for the old man to start thinking of getting a new son. But you…face it, it's not worth losing your job over."

            Reeve thought this suggestion even before offering, "At least let me talk to Tseng. That is, if you don't think he's the one single-handedly masterminding this whole scheme." Reeve said dryly. 

            Rufus chuckled, "If Tseng were I'd be as likely to shake his hand rather than firing him. Gods know that man is way too serious for his own good. A little evil scheming would be good for him. No go right ahead, interrogate Tseng all you want. Doubtless he's aware of us pilfering all these files by now anyway, he's probably very curious."

**************

            _Notes: Sorry this story was crying out one major thing. PLOT!!! No shit huh? I could almost see everyone reading this and scratching your heads by the end of the first chapter going; 'yeah, so?' I realize that it had fallen unto the realms of Reeve/Reno dilemma, angsty piece of bullshit. But that was because that there was no other viable plot to explore. Usually I have a vague idea about the story before I start, but not this time kiddies.  And it didn't even look as though one was forthcoming as I wrote. But being the brilliant person I'd like to pretend to be, I had already worked a number of plot openings into the last one. Why the hell was Kramer killed anyway? Mindless violence on my part or just a way for Reno to show his new evil bad self? Well it was both and neither. Kramer was killed for a reason and I couldn't think of a better person to kill off than an accountant (insert insensitivity apology here before being set on fire by hundreds of pissed off accountants). And what better way for Kramer to die than by having him killed off by his own company  to cover up some truly evil Science Department Plot. Wow, and if you are surprised by that you obviously never played the game. And I love linking things back up to previous plot twists and making it look like I knew where the hell it was going when I first did it, it makes me look like I know what I'm doing for once._

_            No Reno never fucked Rufus. And Rufus does like men. I changed my mind so sue me._

_            And yes Rufus is going to be in this one a little more often that usual. *Drools*._

_            And yes he does have some freaky fucked up dream sequences doesn't he? And no, I wasn't going anywhere with that, not everything happens for a reason._

_            It also seems as though I've kicked that bitch in the ass and gotten rid of Scarlet for the moment. But we'll see how long that lasts._

_            Please review. Please…._

_            Luv from as many positions as her yoga master can teach_

_AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_All stories can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar_

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/_

_don't be afraid, join in the insanity._


	4. What You Do To Yourself

What You Do To Me

_By AF_

Chapter 4 What You Do To Yourself 

            Reno had the most unpleasant sensation of being woken up by a glass of ice-water being tipped over his head. Acting before coming fully awake, he sprung up from the couch he'd been sleeping on and caught his attacker before she managed to retreat to the relative safety of the bedroom.

            "Maggie, what did I tell you about waking a man violently with a hangover?" He asked deathly calm into the ear of the person in his arms, waiting for the last traces of sleep to clear from his mind.

            "That he's liable to kill me slowly and painfully?" Maggie answered innocently.

            "So you /were/ listening. You should've taken better notice."

            Now that he was fully awake he took the opportunity to get his bearings. He remembered falling asleep on Rude's couch after being told he was too drunk to make it home. Between then and the basketball game earlier it was still a bit of a blur. Something about he and Rude going for a drink before he was going to go into HQ to see Tseng. Luckily, Tseng hadn't been expecting him. Not specifically yesterday anyway. Just some time over the weekend. He really better go in today.

            One thing to take care of first.

            Scooping Maggie up in his arms he headed off down the hallway in the direction of the bathroom where he could hear the faint sounds of water. Opening the door by backing into it, he went over to the full bath of water and dropped his burden into it. Probably not the sanest way he could have gotten Maggie back for the ice water. Half of the water sloshed out of the bath and onto the tiles not to mention the heavy grunt that came from Rude from the impact of his girlfriend being dropped down onto him.

            Dusting his hands Reno gave a satisfied nod telling them; "Well, while I'm up I better go see Tseng. Later guys."

            "Arrrr." The others responded to Reno's retreating back.

***

            Tseng was bored. Absolutely, and terribly bored. Weekends in the Shinra building were like that. Hardly any missions ran on a weekend. Hardly any personnel came in to work. But one Turk was required to be there. As always. Rude had filled in for last weekend and Reno wouldn't have the duty for another three weeks, so now it was his turn.  So Tseng had decided to do something constructive. Tseng had decided to shoot something. 

            Setting himself up in the shooting gallery, he rid himself of his jacket and tie, put on his protective gear and steadied his stance. The paper target was set up at a fair distance, more than ordinary practice, but Tseng enjoyed the challenge. The concentration it took, the focus, was almost meditative to the Turk leader. 

            Emptying his clip into the paper target, he eased out of his steady stance and depressed the button to bring the target back up to where he stood, pulling his ear protectors off in the process. That was when he heard the voice.

            "You have no idea how truly erotic it is to see a hot man fire a loaded gun." Tseng turned to the voice, but he already knew who it was. 

            Reno was learning on the doorframe, arms crossed, ankles crossed, clothes, as usual, looking as though he'd slept in them. He wore a mischievous smirk that almost caused Tseng to smile back in return. Almost. Instead he plucked the paper target (now sporting a large ragged hole where it's heart would've been) off the clips holding it onto the line and fit a new one in its place.

            "I told you to see me sometime this weekend. Today is Sunday."

            The impression that Reno had left his visit to the last minute was not lost on either of them, but Reno pretended to ignore it. He pushed himself off the doorway and ambled over to stand in front of his boss. "Well, I'm here boss, what's up?"

            "New duties." Tseng replied sending the new target down even further than the last. "You may have heard that the Turks have been put on bodyguard duty."

            "I heard," Reno acknowledged, "but I was led to believe that is over with now."

            "In most cases it is. But Shinra have decided to keep the arrangement going for any high ranking personnel having to leave the city on business."

            Reno didn't look amused anymore. "And I take it that I have pulled this pointless and wholly boring assignment."

            "How very astute of you Reno. In a little under a month, The cannon in Junon will be completed and a couple of the executives will be going out there for the test. You will accompany one as their bodyguard for the duration of the trip."

            Reno still didn't look amused. In fact he had begun to look a little afraid. "No." He said simply. "No fucking way. Not Scarlet."

            This time Tseng did give the other man a half smile. "Call it a test of faith. I had to fight to get you an assignment like this so shortly after your return. It helps that you've been working in Junon for the past six months."

            Reno screwed up his face as if he'd tasted something sour. "I appreciate your faith in me Tseng. But Scarlet?" Reno's eyes lit up as he thought of something else. "Wait you said there was more than one going right?"

            "You can't switch duties," Tseng informed him suddenly losing all traces of a smile. "You're going because Heidigar was more upset with the idea of leaving you here on your own rather than sending you to Junon. Rude will be staying behind. And depending on whether Cassian or I accompany Hojo out to Nibleheim depends on who gets the other duty."

            "Well, that was a perfect excuse without actually giving one." Reno grumbled.

            Tseng sighed and looked his subordinate in the eye. "I may be a bastard to you sometimes Reno. But I'm not an utter asshole. You can't switch."

            A muscle above Reno's eye twitched as he finally understood what Tseng was telling him. "The other executive is Reeve." Then under his breath he added, "So much for my personal life being personal." But Tseng still caught the soft words.

            "Under the circumstances I would say it were better that I knew," He told Reno seriously. Reno didn't seem to be listening though, his eyes were glued to his shoes, hands stuffed in his pockets. He was obviously in deep thought about something, and whatever it was about, he didn't look happy about it. Tseng continued listing off Reno's duties for the next few weeks. The only reaction he got was when he mentioned having to visit Hojo for a check up from the last time, which made Reno's eye twitch again, and when he mentioned something about the new Turk recruits. This made Reno's head come up in surprise.

            "I'm being forced to sponsor someone? Are you insane?"

            Tseng put on his most patient expression. Sponsoring a recruit meant that Reno would be choosing a trainee to single out and train himself with the expectation that one day, that Turk would be accepted into the ranks. To replace their predecessor if needs be or become their new partner until that time arose. In cases such as this, it was given as, not punishment, but a kind of effort to give the original Turk a sense of responsibility and focus if needed. Tseng himself had sponsored Reno, and as became necessary sponsored Tariff as well. He would have forced Reno into becoming Tariff's sponsor at the time had he felt that Reno was ready. He hadn't been. But perhaps now he was.

            "I'd like to think not," Tseng replied truthfully. "I want you to go through the recruit files and see if any appeal to you. If not, you can go out searching yourself, but I want you to find somebody within three months. Understood?"

            "Not in the slightest.'

            Tseng ignored him. "Good. I want you endurance tests and firearm results within the week as well." He reminded.

            Reno nodded then motioned to the newly reloaded gun in Tseng's hand. "May I?"

            He had seemed a little glum over what Tseng had to tell him. And very quiet after learning about Reeve. Tseng had begun to worry a little over the usually more exuberant Turk. At least his wanting to do his firearm test now was some indication that he was willing to accept his duties a little.

            Tseng handed the gun to Reno and pulled the ear protectors back on. Reno didn't bother himself. He took up a steady stance, legs slightly spread, arms straight and rock steady, took aim and fired all shots in quick succession. Handing the still smoking gun back to his boss, Reno turned and started heading for the door, apparently uncaring as to how he'd done with the test. 

            "I'll see you on Monday." He threw over his shoulder.

            Any of Tseng's fears had disappeared once he got the paper target into his hands. One hit center forehead, one through each eye, the rest emptied into the groin. Tseng did allow himself a full smile this time. 

            Not worried at all.

*

Monday morning. Halfway through the morning and Reeve still hadn't gotten his coffee. Sure he wasn't as bad as Rufus, a man who could hardly keep his eyes open and his brain working without the bitter tasting pick me up, but he did retain an unusual grumpiness that didn't see to go away until he could have a mug in his hand. This morning it was even worse. Busy wasn't even the word for it. Grossly swamped came closer. Revisions for the Shinra Building renovations were due, work crews for the Junon trip had to be sorted and to top it all off, the Number Seven Reactor looked like it had to be pulled offline due to a power surge from a nearby reactor. 

Actually chaos was closer.

And it wasn't helping the fact that Rufus chose that morning to come down to his office and annoy him about his mission for the truth. In true Rufus fashion he stood by Reeve's door, knowing Reeve was only pretending to ignore him by continuing to work, and smiled one of his slow charming Rufus smiles while holding up a sheet covered in numbers. The sheet in his hand was the invoice for their department's latest budget increase.

            The grin was because Rufus wanted to deal with it now.

          "Rufus I have to submit these final revisions to your father before lunchtime. It's already eleven."

          "What and it'll take you a whole five seconds to talk to Tseng. He's under you in the whole office hierarchy anyway. You can call him up to the office. Be more private anyway."

          Reeve looked up from the papers covering his desk and leant further back into his chair. "And why do I get the feeling there's more to come?" Reeve asked knowingly.

            "Because you are an intelligent and perceptive person Reeve. I want you to look over these output logs for the reactors and lucky for me that I happen to be office buddies with one of the very few men who know what all that technical jargon means. I can follow most of it, but I need your professional eye."

          "Flattery will only get you so far with me today Rufus. And nowhere this morning. The President will fire me if I don't get the work I'm already supposed to have done in by lunchtime." Reeve frowned at his friend as Rufus stepped into the room proper and starting looking at the blueprints over the slanted desk behind Reeve. Reeve's eyes tracked him with barely concealed impatience. "I'll talk to Tseng now if you'd like, shouldn't take too long. But I won't be able to…"

            "What about this afternoon? You said you'd be finished with the revisions by then." Rufus asked casually still looking over the prints.

            "Yeah but the Number Seven…" Reeve let his voice trail off as Rufus raised his eyes to meet Reeve's. A look so questioning and innocent that gave Rufus away completely. He knew Reeve had all this work to do. And he also knew that Reeve had promised to help Rufus out even after Rufus had reminded him that he didn't have to. A rather cruel way to make his point, but one that made Reeve force a defiant smile. "This afternoon is fine."

            Rufus looked like he wanted to look smug, but he wouldn't let himself. He merely straightened up and gestured to the prints he'd been looking at. "Nice work with the building by the way, though I didn't see where you put my new office. I do hope you remember who your friends are when your handing out the top spaces."

            Reeve's smile was genuine now, he'd already had a fair amount of people ask him about that. "I don't decide that. The President gives the specifications, I merely incorporate them into the plan."

            "Pity." Rufus shrugged making his way toward the doorway, "I'll see you this afternoon then." Then he was gone.

            Reeve watched the doorway for a while before rolling his eyes and picking up his phone. If he was going to talk to Tseng, he might as well get it over with. Dialing the Turks extension by heart Reeve only had to wait for a couple of seconds before it was picked up.

            "Turks Offices, you accuse them we abuse them."

            Reeve's mouth suddenly went dry. He hadn't once realized that Tseng might not answer the phone. He definitely hadn't thought that Reno might.

            "Hello?"

            "Uh-Tseng please." Should he have said hello before asking for Tseng? It seemed absurd that he /could/ be rude to the man, no matter what he said, but to Reeve it still made him feel like a coward. Though he got over that slightly after the relief that Reno didn't seem to recognize his voice. Or was it slight irritation?

            A couple of moments before. "Hang on a sec," In the background, "Yo Boss, phone!" Then a few moments of the phone changing hands before Tseng's voice came on, "Yes?"

*

             "Yo Boss, phone!"

            Tseng straightened up from the filing cabinet he'd been sorting through before crossing back over to where Reno was leaning against his desk. His face was a little pale and he watched the phone with a slightly anxious gaze. 

            'Who is it?' Tseng mouthed taking the phone and handing the files he was carrying to Reno.

            'Reeve.' Was the equally as quiet reply.

            With a raised eyebrow, Tseng bought the phone up to his ear. "Yes?"

            A few moments then, "A moment of my time? Well, despite my hectic schedule, I'm sure I can make room for you Mr. Evans." A pause. "Of course." Then he replaced the receiver.

            He waited for a few moments expecting Reno to ask a question about the conversation. When he didn't Tseng continued with their previous conversation.

            "There are the recruit files. I expect you to look through them and get back to me about it as soon as possible. Rude is,"

            Reno's head came up so fast Tseng was almost startled, "No. No visiting training sessions. You saw what happened last time. I don't play nice with the other kids."

            "Well you'll have to. Rude is taking my class with them today. You can go watch them train and see what you think. You are the only Turk that isn't involved in the training processes, it's time you were." One look at Reno's sullen expression. "You could at least interview a couple of them."

            "I have to scope for a Soldier candidate today, you know that." It was almost a whine.

            "Fine. Just go and have a look, a talk. Then you may leave." Reno began backing toward the door, a half-smile on his face at his perceived win. "But I want you to take a proper look at the recruits. And don't forget you have an appointment with Hojo before the end of the day."

            Reno just shrugged as if it were no big deal, "Eh, tell him I'll see him tomorrow. I probably won't finish up till after five."

            "No. You'll see him tonight. The Professor is working late. He'll expect you at half past five."

            Reno gave his boss a sloppy salute and vanished out the door, probably hoping Tseng wouldn't change his mind about the recruits. Tseng just sighed and snatched up his jacket off the back of his chair before he too left the office. Some days he could swear Reno was still just a boy.

*

            "Morning Mr. Evans."

            Reeve looked up from his desk and smiled at Tseng before gesturing for him to take the seat in front of his desk. Tseng did so after closing the office door and relaxed into the chair like he owned the piece of furniture. Though no matter how relaxed Tseng ever looked, Reeve wouldn't for one moment the Turk wasn't alert. Reeve didn't mind the posture like some executives might in their own offices. In fact he knew Tseng was like that anywhere he went with the possible exception of Heidigar's office and the President. It seemed friendly and relaxed and did wonders to sooth Reeve's nerves about the questions he was about to ask. 

            "How have you been Tseng? I haven't seen you in a little while."

            Tseng inclined his head slightly, the ghost of a smile ticking the corner of his mouth. "As well as can be expected Mr. Evans. I apologize for my rudeness, but I have a rather busy schedule today. I will admit I would rather be able to sit here and chat with you all day, a far more enjoyable alternative. But busy is busy, and I get the feeling you didn't invite me up here to ask me how I was."

            Reeve flushed guiltily and shook his head. "Sorry."

            Tseng though waved him off as if it were nothing, "You were just being polite."

            Nodding, Reeve collected his thoughts. "The reason I wanted to see you Tseng is to ask you about your department's expenditures for the last couple of years." Reeve leant forward to hand a sheet to Tseng, but the Turk didn't even look at the document. Didn't in fact move his eyes away from Reeve's. 

            "I must admit. I was curious as to what you and Rufus were up to."

            That statement almost caused Reeve to drop the sheet of paper he was holding. But he managed to keep his expression under control and retract his hand to drop the sheet back down in front of himself. 

            "You knew." Reeve guessed.

            "Not entirely," Tseng admitted, "but I had a good idea. Mr. Shinra is lucky to have your help on this. Don't misunderstand, Rufus is an intelligent man, but he is sometimes too caught up with trying to feel for the real pulse in the company that he is sometimes blind to the machine that is pumping the blood. I'm glad to see how far you've gotten with this case of Mr. Kramer's."

            "How do you know about that?" A silly question certainly. This /was/ Tseng he was talking to. Perhaps Reno had been right, and he really was a little too naive about some people just because they were his friends.

            "Call it an unofficial curiosity that I had concerning the late head of accounting and his untimely death at the hands to those terrorists."

            Well that was at least partially bullshit. He was positive that Tseng believed it was terrorists that killed Kramer just as much as Reeve did. The man who had actually been responsible was his subordinate after all. Though Tseng's words did give him pause. If he had looked into Kramer's death, unofficially, it therefore seemed very unlikely that Tseng had ordered the hit himself.  Perhaps he hadn't even known about it at the time. Was that what Tseng was trying to tell him? But that couldn't be! If Kramer had been digging into the company secrets as Rufus implied, then it was the company responsible for his death. And if that were true, how could Tseng not know about it when one of his own men was sent to carry the job out? How could something like the death of the Head of Accounting be so secret as to not even inform the Head of the Turks?

            "What did you find?" Reeve asked eventually.

            "Not much more than I can see you have I'm afraid. That some of those tallies aren't quite what they seem in some departments. I gave up the investigation some months ago."

            Reeve wasn't quite sure how to ask his next question. "Uh, Tseng?"

            Tseng did that almost smile thing again as if he were finding Reeve's style of interrogation amusing in some way. Thinking about it, he realized that it /was/ probably amusing to the Leader of the Turks. 

            "I can assure you that the Administrative Research Department are not one of those that don't add up Mr. Evans. You have my promise on that." Tseng preempted him, "I doubt falsifying anything from our department is quite subtle enough. They can not assume I wouldn't catch it, I'm paid to notice underhanded goings on after all. It's not worth the risk."

            Reeve couldn't argue with that. And he trusted Tseng enough to not think he was lying.   "Well, I apologize for taking up your time Tseng. Especially seeing as there was no need after all."

            Tseng rose to his feet fluidly, sensing that the short meeting was at an end. "No need to apologize. As I said, a much preferable alternative. But a small word of warning Mr. Evans; you should leave this investigation to Rufus. At least the active investigation. Its his job for one, and for another, you may not find a lot of the other departments to be as receptive as I have been."

Translation; Anybody else who knows about this with no clear reason is most certainly involved.

Not a warning, friendly advice.

"Tseng?" Reeve asked as the Turk neared the door. "Why did you quit the investigation?"

"I recently saw an old friend of mine who reminded me that sometimes it is simply better to not get too strongly involved in things better left alone."

"Good advice. He must have been a good friend." Reeve murmured.

Tseng paused for a moment longer looking Reeve's thoughtful expression over before his eyes latched onto the slanted architects desk that had so engrossed Rufus earlier.

"Speaking of good friends," Tseng began, "I do hope you remember yours in the renovation plans."

Closing his eyes, Reeve groaned. 

***

            Reno wandered into the gym stifling a yawn and trying not to drop the recruit files underneath his arm onto the polished hardwood floor. He spotted Rude and the recruits in the center of the room and ambled over toward them. The recruits were seated in a rough semi-circle around Rude and he and another instructor were demonstrating a hold. Probably someone from Soldier. Fabulous. 

            This time stifling a groan, he stopped just behind the seated recruits and proceeded to look like the most bored man on earth.  Rude finally caught sight of him as the demonstration ended and gestured Reno forward to talk to the group. 

            Taking his sweet time, Reno wandered over to stand next to Rude, unceremoniously dropping the pile of files by his feet and scratched his head. While this was going on he took his time to study the faces that now were quite openly staring at him, or more precisely at his uniform. He recognized none of the young faces that looked up at him. A good thing. He was glad there was a whole new batch, he really hadn't wanted to see any from the last. Each one of those poor bastards would probably think he was going to put them in the infirmary. Not fair really. After all, he'd only done that once before. At least only once since becoming a Turk anyway.

            Finally Reno cleared his throat and pointed a finger at the first recruit. "You. Coffee, now. You," a different one, "pick up those folders and follow me."

            Reno got a glimpse of Rude's face before he turned away. A slightly twitch of the man's lips and a slight shake of his head. That was pretty much the Rude equivalent of laughing at Reno's behavior. In retrospect, he guessed he could have introduced himself and explained what was happening, but Reno wasn't in the mood. This was really the punishment from hell for Reno. And it wouldn't probably be any better for the hapless recruit he chose to mould into his own Turk image.  He was really beginning to doubt Tseng's sanity as he crossed the room shadowed by the light steps of the recruit he'd picked out to interrogate first. Finding the weight benches unoccupied he sat himself down and gestured for the boy behind him to sit on the opposite one. The recruit did so after handing the files to Reno and started to look very nervous. Reno couldn't blame him one bit. 

            He kept the boy waiting for a few minutes in silence while Reno drew his legs up to sit cross legged on the bench and pretended to be engrossed in the files in his lap till the other recruit came with his coffee. Sending his coffee bearer away with an uninterested wave off his hand he took a sip, grimacing at the taste. Remembering the face of the coffee bearer, he vowed to strike the man off his list. Two reasons; 1. He obeyed Reno without question and 2. The guy made shit coffee.

            At last he turned his attention to the guy in front of him. "Do you know who I am?" Reno asked blandly.

            The boy nodded. "Yes Sir."

            "Good, but I have no fucking idea who you are. What's your name?"

            "Davis Sir."

            Way too many Sirs that came easily to the boy's lips.

            Reno flipped through the files till he came to the one marked 'Davis'. Opening it across his lap he spent a few moments studying the first page. 

            "You're twenty three?"

            "Yes Sir."

            Well maybe 'boy' was a wrong way to describe him then.

            "I'll be honest with you Davis. I am here screening recruits for possible patronage. Do you know what that means?"

            "Yes Sir. You're looking for someone to sponsor." Well there was only a slight shake in the guy's voice, this time more from excitement.

            "Yup. Hypothetically, would you like to be sponsored?"

            "Yes, of course Sir."

            "Why?"

            "Well because it is the best way to receive proper training and therefore work to the best of one's ability. There is no better training for a future Turk than to be personally trained by a sponsor. Sir."

            "Spoken like a true textbook. And I suppose that being sponsored meaning definite placement within the Turk ranks holds not as much interest to you."

Davis blinked at Reno. "What do you mean Sir?"

            Reno scrubbed a hand over his face. "This is something you really want I take it? To be a good Turk I mean."

            "Of course Sir."

            Reno fought back the evil smile that was threatening to spread across his face. "How much do you want it?"

            "Very much Sir. More than anything."

            "Would you give your sponsor to be a blowjob in the shower room if it guaranteed acceptance?"

            Davis' face went white as a sheet as his expression went into something like fear and shock at the same time.

            The evil smile was tempting. "Relax Davis, I was making a joke. I was also getting to the point that no amount of bribes or sucking up," very tempting, "will gain the position. These things don't impress me, so don't attempt trying. Why don't you tell me how you are fairing in the training."

            Davis began to quote test scores and instructors comments, punctuating each ended sentence with a 'Sir' thrown in for good measure. But Reno had zoned out of the conversation almost immediately. If he truly had to pick someone to train personally, he would rather garrote himself with his own shoelaces than spend that time training a yes man, or an equally annoying stone like character whose sense of humor was buried so deep you had to question its existence at all. So Reno sat there, nodding occasionally to make the man think he was listening, sipped his coffee and began plotting all the devious and cruel ways he could get Tseng back for this without going too far and getting himself fired. 

*

            "Any luck?" Rude asked Reno taking a seat on the bench opposite him not to long after the last candidate had vacated it. Training was over for the day, and Rude had been on his way to the showers when he'd spotted the last recruit being dismissed. Reno didn't look happy. He kept reading over the files in his lap and alternately sneering and grimacing at what he found.

            "Are you aware that you are training the perfect Solider recruits? They're determined, follow orders well and show respect. Very good. But were you also aware that they are a bunch of the poorest Turk recruits I've ever seen in my fucking life?"

Reno threw the pile of folders haphazardly onto the bench beside him and raked a hand through his messy hair. "If those guys were ever called to think for themselves they'd have a heartattck even before the enemy can shoot them."

            Rude nodded and leant back bracing himself on his hands behind him. "No good then."

            "The gum on the bottom of my shoe has more intelligence than all those guys put together. How long have they been training for?"

            "Ten months. Some more. Some less"

            "Ten months?" Reno repeated incredulously, "You're kidding me."

            Rude shook his head. "Ten months and we've only had two dropouts from this batch."

            "Dropouts?" Reno started to get a hopefully look on his face. Obviously he thought even the dropouts were a better option than this. Rude knew Reno wasn't looking forward to the idea of having to recruit off the street.

            "Yeah, I still have copies of their files."

            "Why did they drop out?"

            "One, he couldn't keep up with the physical training. The other had a difference of opinion with one of the instructors. She broke his jaw and dropped out the next day."

            Reno's ears perked up. "She? I didn't know women were even allowed to train."

            "No such rule against that. Women just aren't usually interested and the company has no problems with that."

            "And she broke his jaw?" Reno looked impressed. "She sounds tough enough." Rude knew better than that. Reno was more impressed with the idea of her rebelling and slugging the instructor.

            "A backbone of steel considering. I must admit. Interested?"

            "Quite. Age, name, whereabouts?"

            "Well you know recruits are tracked for a time after dropping out. Standard security procedure," Reno waved all that off, yes he did know, "She's still in Midgar, but she's a Junon native. Around twenty five. Was in the program for about a year before she dropped out. I think the name was Reiden. Elena. Want her file?"

            Rude was surprised the see a slow smile spread across his friend's face at the name. He looked something between unbelieving and extremely amused.

            "Well, what do you know." He said quietly to himself. Then to Rude, "Yeah, I want everything you've got on her. Progressive training reports, history, everything. If she's who I think she is…."Another smile before he seemed to clear his head and stand up, "Anyway, I'll get it off you tomorrow. I've still got to check up on that guy we were lookin' at for Soldier."

            Rude nodded again as Reno started picking up the files he'd tossed in preparation to leaving. "Careful with that one. Tseng wasn't too thrilled with having to train her. He said she was difficult, but I think it was because she was getting a little too attached."

            Reno straightened up, files tucked under one arm, his smile impossibly large. "Perfect."

********************

            Reeve sighed wearily as he leant back against the glass wall of the elevator and fought for the sixth time since leaving his office the readjust the stack of files under his arm and the grip on his briefcase as to not lose them completely. 

            To say he'd had a busy day did not even begin to describe his day. He'd barely managed to get the final designs to the President in time after being sidetracked twice this morning. He'd managed it, but barely. Then after lunchtime Rufus had come into his office, arms weighed down with Reactor information and Department accounts. At first he'd been surprised that part of Rufus' investigation had been to look at the reactor outputs at all. But he had explained that he was just trying to determine whether the inconsistencies with the accounts were solely to do with the budgets, or anything else as well. The reactors just happened to be the biggest money farm the company had to offer. Therefore, if the inconsistencies were happening in other places other than the budgets, it was most likely to be happening with the reactors over anything else. Sound logic and one he had half wished Rufus had never thought of. Together they had puzzled over the problem all afternoon and into the evening. It was already dark before Rufus had finally deemed it late enough to call it quits and asked Reeve if he wanted to go out for a drink instead. According to Rufus, thinking made him thirsty. Reeve could only agree with the logic, he sure felt like a drink or ten himself, but had passed up the offer. Working on Kramer's Crap, as Rufus had taken to calling it, had taken up six hours of the day that Reeve should have been using to do his own work. As a result he now had an armful of papers and files that needed to be caught up on as soon as possible. Namely tonight. The sane thing to do would have been to admit to Rufus that he had been right after all and that he had enough work of his own to do. But Reeve would never back out of something when he had promised, no matter how many  subtle opportunities Rufus gave him to.

            Groaning with the thought of another practically sleepless night, Reeve let his head fall back against the glass behind him and closed his eyes. He wasn't aware of the elevator stopping on another floor till it 'pinged' and he heard the doors slide open. It was still well short of the lobby though so he didn't bother lifting his head or opening his eyes. In his mood, he didn't much care what any other person might think about his wasted pose. At least until it got to maybe passed the three minute mark and the elevator still hadn't resumed moving. Curious, Reeve raised his head and opened his eyes. Then he almost bit through his lip.

            Wearing an unmistakably guppy like look, that quickly fled his face when he realized he had been spotted into something far more cool though still very awkward, Reno scratched his head distractively and inclined his head slightly as if asking permission to enter. And Reeve didn't quite know how to respond. The last thing he had expected was for the other man to want his permission to even be near him. Reno just wasn't like that. Reno did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. Undoubtedly Reno realized how uncomfortable Reeve might be around him now. And to some degree he was absolutely right. But despite this, Reeve felt himself give a fractional nod. Reno seemed to seem very relieved for the second it took him to cover it up again. The fact that he was losing his composure in the first place told Reeve how much this was effecting him. When Reno wanted to be, he could be as stone faced as any Turk. Reno stepped into the elevator and allowed the doors to close behind him.

            Reeve's eyes tracked the Turk across the elevator as Reno went to stand against one of the side walls. Reno's own eyes didn't rise again for another few minutes, and when they did, Reeve looked away quickly. He couldn't help his staring, he was curious among other things. He expected to feel uncomfortable and perhaps a little frightened even with the thought of being in an enclosed space with Reno after what had happened. And he was curious as to why he was not. All he ended up feeling was awkward and a little irritated that he should feel so little. He should at least feel anger shouldn't he? Reno just looked so different! It was hard to explain. He had always maintained that it hadn't really been Reno that night. Not really anyway. The Reno who had attacked him had been depressed, cold and more than a little deranged. Not the Reno he had known. This wasn't even the Reno he had known. This Reno was uncertain and subdued. As much as he would have liked seeing the old Reno back though, this one was a marked improvement to the deranged one he had last seen.

            He was startled out of his thoughts at Reno's voice. Again he was surprised, he had thought they were going to spend the entire ride down to the lobby in awkward silence.

            "It looks good."

            Confused Reeve managed to raise his eyes once more to look at Reno properly. The other man didn't look away, but he looked timid enough that he might cringe back in an instant if Reeve responded angrily.

            Reno motioned toward his own chin vaguely with one hand and Reeve realized he was referring to his new facial growth. He self consciously raised his own hand to his chin and shrugged in what he hoped was a casual noncommittal way.

            "Uh-thanks."

            _Well /that/ was intelligent._

"Didn't think you'd grow it." Reno continued.

            Thinking before he spoke was something Reeve was definitely having a problem with at the moment. And the next time he opened his mouth was no exception.

            "A friend once told me it would look good on me."

            Reeve could have kicked himself for saying that.

            Seemingly encouraged by the response Reno smiled a little and lost a bit of that uncertain look from his eyes. He seemed to let the answer sink in for a moment before constructing his next question. 

            "Do you trust everything this person tells you?"

            A very clever question. Unfortunately Reeve's IQ seemed to have dropped sixty points just by being this close to the other man. Here he had the opportunity to sum up how he felt with one carefully worded answer. One sentence could speak volumes. 

            But what did he want to say?

            "I liked to think so."

            Reno nodded, apparently not missing the reference to the past tense. "And now?"

            "I don't know what to think." Reeve answered honestly almost sighing.

            "Well, you can take his word on at least one thing."

            "What's that?" Reeve asked curiously.

            "You do look good." Reno offered a half smile.

            That smile. /That/ looked familiar. And it almost caused Reeve to smile automatically in response.

            "I like to think I can trust my friends judgment."

            Reno raised an eyebrow at him. "Friend?" 

            Reeve didn't know quite how to respond to that. He wanted to nod and smile so much so that he almost did it. But another stubborn part of his mind was telling him that it wasn't so easy as that. That he should be angry with the other man for thinking he could patch things up that easily. But he couldn't push the emotion up, but he couldn't simply nod and smile either.

            Luckily he didn't have to. The elevator stopped and 'pinged' again, announcing its arrival at the lobby. Glad for the reprieve from answering, Reeve exited the elevator quickly and made his way toward the big entryway that lead to the square outside.

            Evidently, Reno didn't feel like leaving the subject hanging and easily caught up to Reeve just outside.

            "Mind if I walk with you?"

            "It's a free city." Reeve responded, still trying to act casual. It was becoming more and more difficult though.

            "So that's what they're telling people these days huh?" Reno responded forcing a small laugh.

            Reeve didn't feel like laughing. He didn't feel much like talking anymore either. He wanted to be alone and think for a while. Anger was becoming less and less of a strain now.

            "Reeve could you stop for a sec? I need to talk to you."

            Reeve didn't even slow down. Reno wanted to talk to him. Reno didn't usually like talking about stuff like this. For that matter, Reeve wasn't a big fan of deep and meaningful conversations either when it came to Reno. It was usually painful.

            "Is this where I grab your throat and hold you up against a wall?" He asked coldly. Oh yeah, the anger was there.

            Reno grimaced as he plainly remembered the last time Reeve had wanted to explain something to him. "Rufus told me not to talk to you."

            This made Reeve stop and turn to face the other man. "What?"

            Reno had stopped as well and forced his hands into his pockets. "He said I'd do something stupid like apologize and you'd end up rightfully decking me."

            Reeve considered this.

            "Look Reno, I won't pretend to know what you were going through back then. I know that you'd lost control, that it wasn't really your fault, that you were too messed up or whatever else was going on with you." Tseng's explanation had been sketchy, "But for some reason, it doesn't make it hurt any less."

            A muscle in Reno's jaw seemed to twitch with the force he used to keep his jaws clamped shut and Reeve almost lost whatever anger he had managed to rouse. He almost felt sorry for the guy. But he irritably pushed it aside. Anger was good, he had a right to be angry. And anger would make him look out for himself rather than someone else. It was all to often the other way around for him.

            "I'm willing to take the blame," Reno said steadily, "I just want to explain. After that you can do what you want with me. Stab me, shoot me, and strangle me, anything you want. I deserve it."

            At that his anger slipped again, but this time he hardly noticed. He merely sighed and looked at the pile of files he was carrying.

            _There's always tomorrow…_

"It's been a very long day. I want to go home."

            Reno looked ready to protest, but instead he just nodded and looked at the pavement by his feet. "Okay, if that's what you want."

            Reno stayed routed to the spot while Reeve resumed walking. A couple of paces across the square, he paused and turned to look back at the sorry looking Turk.

            "Well, are you coming?"

            Reno looked up quickly, seemingly too stunned to do anything but nod once again, this time with a little more enthusiasm, and jog to catch up to the other man.

*

            With a derisive twist of his lips, Rufus waiting till the pair vanished out of sight down the street before starting his car up again and throwing it into gear. He wished he'd just gotten into his car and headed for home instead of hanging around to see if Reeve needed a lift home. What he'd seen was enough to make him grind his teeth in a way Tseng would wince at. He figured nobody ever listened to him, no matter how good his advice.

            Rufus put his foot down and sped off in the direction of his favorite bar.

*******************

_            Notes: Holy crap that was long. Well I made you wait for it, but it's almost the size of two chapters so you can't be complaining /that/ much. I also have a new personal god by the name of Ace, who managed to rescue the pivotal elevator scene from the virus ridden files my computer had just prior to its crash. Some things I back up, some things I don't. The elevator scene just happened to be one of them. But because this chapter was re-written it gave me time to rethink some of the plot –line a bit to the point that this chapter is hardly recognizable as the initial chapter four. Meaning, I had totally forgotten about Elena. She needed to be in there for sure. **IMPORTANT NOTE; **I will be following of "I Must Be Insane" as far as this fic is concerned. In other words Reno and Elena know each other. If you don't know the fic, I strongly suggest reading it off my site. It goes into more detail about the sponsorship stuff as well in case you didn't follow that too well. What can I say, it just makes my job easier._

_            Now onto the stuff you are probably waiting for. Chapter Five won't be quite so long and is also a chapter I am kicking myself over having to re-write considering it was also a very important one as far as Reno/Reeve plot is concerned. That's write Monsters fans, the next chapter will follow on directly from this one. I dare not say anything else._

_            Stay tuned,_

_            AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_Monsters Series is filed on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar along with AF's other *coughs* brilliant fics._

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/_

_where the fics run freely…_


	5. Time To Sort This Shit Out

Author's Foreword: I'm so so so so very sorry! Never have I fallen so behind on my beloved series so drastically. I can only hope that you haven't begun to hate me and are still reading. Thank you so very much if you are. Chapter Six is almost completed as well. You can all thank Ace for even getting the chapters this quickly after she revived what was left after the disaster death of my computer. Three cheers for Ace! All must honor her godlike abilities for we are only mere mortals in her presence.

Massive apologies if the chapter appears a little disjointed. I tried to resurrect it. We both did. There is only so much we could do.

What You Do To Me

_By AF_

Chapter 5 

Time To Sort This Shit Out.

            Reeve unlocked his door and pushed it open for the two to enter. Reno seemed a little reluctant to at first, but eventually stepped over the threshold, closing the door behind him.

            Reeve went through the usual motions of dumping his work on the couch and heading to the kitchen for a beer while Reno lingered around the doorway. Going about his business as if nothing were out of the ordinary was a comfortable, barely thought about practice that required no thinking whatsoever. That was a good thing as far as Reeve was concerned. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be thinking too deeply right now. Without thought he grabbed two beers from the refrigerator and re-entered the lounge room to find Reno gently tracing the small cracks in the main door with his fingertips. The cracks that no amount of repainting could conceal, and with no amount of time could he forget about. His whole body seemed slumped somehow, as if he'd suddenly run out of energy. His face showed barely concealed hopelessness as if reliving the moment he had caused the cracks to appear.

_Someone grabbed him roughly from behind and slammed him bodily into the door.  The impact smashed his head against the door and jarred the knife from his grip.  His attacker released him and he crumpled to the floor in pain._

            Reeve's mouth went dry with the memory causing him to cough slightly. At the noise Reno seemed to straighten slightly but not turn around.

            "Maybe I should go," Reno said softly, letting his hand drop limply back to his side. 

            "I thought I was going to get an explanation." Reeve answered perhaps more harshly than he had intended to. Didn't Reno realize how hard it had been for Reeve to feel comfortable enough about bringing him back here in the first place?

            Reno nodded and backed away from the door, finally turning toward Reeve. His eyes weren't lowered, but he was hardly looking him in the eye either.

            "I honestly don't know how to begin."

            Reeve handed one of the beers to Reno and motioned toward the couch in the living room. Once they were seated, albeit very awkwardly with Reno on the two seater facing the television and Reeve adjacent on his own armchair, Reno let out a sigh he sounded as if he's been holding for some time now and drained his beer almost finishing it in one guzzle. He studiously kept his eyes away from everything including Reeve and watched himself placing the bottle on the coffee table. 

            "Nice," he commented with a false sense of brightness he obviously didn't feel, "not you're usual brand. But its still good beer."

            Reeve began in a calm tone, "You're babbling."

            "Weird really. I don't, I /never/ babble. I mean I…"

            "Reno." Reeve intoned patiently.

            Snatching his bottle back up, Reno drained the last before slowly replacing it and took another calming breath. "You know when you plan out exactly what you're going to say. I mean really plan. But then when you get to saying it, it just doesn't seem to be the right thing to say. I did plan on coming to see you. And I had it all planned out in my mind what I was going to say. How I was going to explain myself. But when I think about it now, it just sounds fucked up. I mean how can I ever begin to explain what happened? I suppose I never really figured I'd get in through the door to begin with."

"Reno," Reeve began in a calm tone, "you're babbling again"

"I hadn't planned on doing that."

            "So I gathered. How about you start at the reason behind this."

            "Reason?" Reno actually winced. "I don't think there was one in particular. When I was younger my temper was terrible. Brawls were a daily hobby for me. The more challenging the better. I guess I never grew out of it."

            "We all do things we aren't proud of  when we are younger." Reeve said quietly. "Doesn't mean…" But Reeve found himself unable to finish.

            He was going to say 'It doesn't mean that it has to govern your whole life'. But Reeve was no longer so sure. Hadn't he thought that it was almost his own fault for going for a guy that was the same kind of guys he was trying to get away from in his memory? The ones that used to make him bleed because they found it amusing, found it a turn on? He kept telling himself that Reno wasn't like that. That Reno was different. Looking at him now, Reeve was almost able to make himself believe that. Almost. The memory from their last encounter was still too fresh in his memory.

            "Reeve?"

            Reeve snapped out of his reverie and forced himself to pay attention to Reno again. 

            "What were you going to say?"

            "Nothing." Reeve murmured taking a healthy swig of his forgotten beer. But he could tell that Reno had known what he was going to say anyway. A drawback of how familiar they were with each other.

            "Please don't think that."

            Reeve went to automatically assure him but stopped, forcing the ice back into his voice. "Why not? For fucks sake you even said it yourself!" He exclaimed, his anger flaring.

            "It was never like that. I want you to believe that." Reno told him in a subdued tone.

            "You want me to believe that? But it isn't even the truth!"

            Reeve couldn't believe that anger flowing through him. He was trying to calm himself down. He knew getting angry wasn't going to solve anything. But he also knew that he had very valid reasons for the outburst and the small comment of denial on Reno's part, that little reminder, had been enough.

            Getting to his feet, he began pacing in between the television and the coffee table, opposite the couch that Reno was sitting on..

            "It's the truth!" Reno pleaded still sitting. "I swear!"

            Five steps one way, five the other.

            "Excuse me if I'm not about to take you word as absolute truth right now."

            "I came that night because I couldn't get you out of my head!" Reno suddenly blurted. 

            Reeve stopped dead. "What?"

            Reno ran a shaking hand through his hair and stood awkwardly still.

            _He's actually shaking._

_            "_It was like I wasn't even me anymore. Tseng had put me up to being this great Turk. The next leader in training and all that. What happened with Tariff just made me realize that perhaps I wasn't up to scratch. So I vowed to be a better Turk. It's all I've had for so long."

            "All you had?" Reeve questioned bitterly and was surprised that he had said that out loud. But after a moment he was glad he had said it after seeing the guilty look on Reno's face. After all, perhaps one of the scariest things that had happened between them had been that night in the alley when he had told Reno how he felt and Reno had basically told him to fuck off.

            "Before anything else." Reno corrected apologetically. "I didn't-"

            "No, keep with the truth. I'd prefer not to be lied to." Reeve cut in a little harshly. He couldn't help his tone though.

            Reno looked about to argue be refrained from it with a simple, "I am telling you the truth. I didn't mean it like that."

            Reeve didn't particularly feel like asking him what he had meant exactly, fearing he wouldn't like the answer. "So a better Turk meant that you felt the sudden desire to randomly start attacking people?"

            "I'm not a psychotic Reeve." Reno told him evenly before again looking guilty at the outburst. "There was nothing random in anything I did.  Everything I did had a reason I had thought was valid at the time. Not that I'm saying I was in a clear thinking frame of mind at that time though."

"Some things are a blur for me." He continued very softly. "I can't tell you exactly what I was thinking..maybe because I don't think a hell of a lot of thought went into my actions when I let go. It was like I was seeing this darker half of myself as a different being. I looked in the mirror just before I came over here back then and I didn't recognize my own reflection. I thought I was looking at a demon, some dark being that knew what I was thinking, knew what I thought I needed. But one fact that I was perfectly aware of was how I felt about you."

            Reeve suddenly felt the need to sit down. The coffee table was the closest thing and he wasn't sure if he trusted himself all the way back to the couch.

            "But that was just the thing." Reno continued, "More than anything I thought I needed my job back. Being a Turk was the first thing I was ever good at doing and I didn't want to suddenly loose it 'cause I was being slack. I told myself not to care when Tariff died. But I did. And it was effecting my work. I tried to  program myself to not think or feel for any person. I thought I was succeeding until I saw that picture in Rufus' e-mail. But it hurt. A lot."

This time Reeve didn't open his mouth to comment. It was one thing to speculate over what exactly had happened to Reno. Or hear about it from Tseng. It was another totally disturbing thing to hear the truth from Reno. And it was a little disturbing. More than a little.  He knew that Reno had problems. Most people did. But the change in the other man had been so sudden that he had been utterly frightened at what he had become. A demon version of himself, like Reno had suggested maybe. But Reno wasn't telling him everything he was sure. He raised his eyes to look at Reno. The man was sitting back on the couch, idly playing with a small gold chain around his neck. Reeve had never seen the chain before.

            "So this was somehow my fault?" Reeve asked softly.

            Reno's eyes jerked up to meet Reeve's so suddenly that Reeve assumed that he had hit the mark, or he had been more utterly off than he could imagine.

            "How could it possibly be your fault?" Reno asked shocked. 

            Reeve scowled. Pacing was relaxing for him. Even though he was sure if he kept it up he was going to wear a hole in the carpet.

            "Oh, I don't know," He spat back sarcastically, "You sure make it sound like it."

Reno shook his head very vigorously. "The only thing you ever did was have the massive misfortune to ever know me. I've done a lot of things wrong in my life and /that/ was the cause."

"And are you listing me as one of those things you did wrong?"

Reno clenched and unclenched his jaw. Not really an angry reaction, more one of frustration that was being kept on a tight leash. "Of course I am. Do you think for one moment I don't regret what I did to you? And would you honestly say that you wouldn't take back every moment you knew me if it meant you wouldn't end up being hurt like that?"

Reeve stopped pacing on him and rounded on the Turk. "Of course I can honestly say that I wouldn't!" He blurted.

"What?" Reno asked surprised and more than a little confused. Reeve almost felt like asking himself the same question. But he plunged on regardless knowing it was the truth.

"Unlike you I can't shut myself off like that! Yes you hurt me more than anything has in my life." They both knew he wasn't talking physically. "But I cannot say that I wished nothing had ever happened. It isn't that easy. I can't just turn around and say that I've stopped caring. Because I never did Reno, not once." Well so much for holding onto his anger. 

Reno took the time to digest this before plowing on. "But nothing was your fault.  I knew you wouldn't have done that totally willingly. Maybe not at first, but when I thought about it I knew. But what I also realized what that there was still one aspect of my life that could hurt me easily. That could make me feel and think just like every other person on the plate. Being in that state of mind was never a natural thing for me and it especially effected me just when I was teaching myself that having these kinds of emotions had no place in my life if I wanted to continue being a Turk. Breaking it off seemed the most simple way. Even," Here Reno flushed a little and seemed very reluctant to continue, "Even going to somebody else to talk myself into believing that it was just sex, nothing more. It didn't work. No matter what I did, no matter where I went. I was constantly reminded of you and my feelings for you. The more I tried to push it aside, the more I thought about it. So finally I just kind of accepted that. Which was kind of the worst time I could have. My brain just seemed to think if it was you that I needed, it would be you that I get. No matter the cost. Obsessive, impulsive and on some blood crazed mission to prove to the world that I was capable of being the coldest, fiercest and most effective Turk in the history of Shinra, I decided to pay you a little visit and scratch the compulsive itch I had to just be near you."

            Reeve fought to unstick his tongue from the top of his mouth. "Woah."

            Reno winced as another thing seemed to come to him. "That and something about wanting to taste your blood."

            "What?" Reeve exclaimed, his eyes widening even more.

            "That is one of the blurry bits." Reno said apologetically. "And for some reason I'm particularly glad about that."

            Trust Reno to make light of a topic as dark as this.

            "So am I." Reeve agreed absently. Then, "Wait a minute, you had sex with someone else?"

            Out of all the facts Reno had just let out, this was one of the two he /really/ didn't want to address.

            "After we had broken up. And did I mention that I was insane at the time?"

            "Who was it?" Quietly.

            "That, you really don't want to know. For all our sakes."

            "Someone I know." Reeve muttered to himself. Reno was right. If that was the case, he really didn't want to know. At least not just yet. "Obsessive?" Reeve asked, his voice still low.

            /This/ was the second thing.

            "For lack of a better word." Reno swallowed thickly. "I thought you might have noticed."

            Reeve remained silent, waiting for the reluctant Reno to continue.

            "Everybody I talked to said your name, whenever I came home, you weren't there. I dreamt about you. Not to mention the power trip I was on. I was a fearless killer. A soulless monster. I wanted people to be afraid of me."

            "Scare me again." Reeve whispered. "When I said that I didn't quite mean it like that."

            "Don't think it quite mattered to me at that point. What happened to me was a long time in the making. I can see that now. From way before I met you. I didn't talk to anyone. I didn't work it out of my system. I just bottled it all up until the bottle couldn't take it anymore. It popped."

            "More like exploded." Reeve amended. 

            "I'm not sure there's much more I can tell you that would help you any. I just wanted you to know that…" Reno paused and shoved his hands into his pockets, "..t-that not matter what happened to me or between us, that for even one moment I just stopped caring." Reno shrugged uncomfortably, "It just transformed into something different somewhere along the line."

            Reeve closed his eyes and bowed his head, fighting with the tears that threatened to spring up at any moment.

            Slowly, gently, Reno stood and moved to kneel in front of Reeve's position on the coffee table. With the same care he lifted Reeve's face with his fingertips causing Reeve to open his eyes and look at Reno fully. The expression Reno saw there in front of him almost made him stop what he was doing and pull back, afraid that he might cause more grief, more pain. But he persevered.  

            "You just don't know what you do to me." _Something nobody has ever been able to do before. The first that I couldn't ignore or try to forget. And the only one that I never will. _"That is the truth. Do you believe me now?"

            "Yes." He whispered.

            Reno let his hand drop. Content to just kneel there while Reeve took in everything said to him. No doubt it would take more that just this night though. But he let the silence continue for a few more minutes at least, thinking that when Reeve wanted to, he'd say something.

            He didn't.

            "Hit me." Reno said.

            "What?"

            "Hit me. Stab me. Throttle me. Do something. I want to know what you are thinking." Reno explained slightly exasperated.

            "I thought you could always tell what I was thinking just by looking at me." Reeve murmured.

            "You've changed a little since I last saw you." Reno admitted shamefully, knowing that the guarded expressions, the distrustful thoughts he'd noticed were probably due to him.

            "You don't want to know what I'm thinking. But I'm not going to hit you."

            Reno forced a smile and said, "Not even if I apologize?"

            The smile had the intended effect, smoothing a few of the tense lines on Reeve's face. "That might actually be welcome. But no, not even if you apologize. I'm not like you."

            The smile faded. "I know there is nothing I can do to make amends. I never expect you  to forgive me or to forget. But there must be something I can do. At least nothing I can think of that doesn't involve me lying in a pool of my own blood."

            "If there was anything you could do, you've done it." A thought seemed to spark behind Reeve's eyes and he allowed a small smile. "I've missed the person I left before I went to Junon. Can I have him back? At least as a friend?"

            "Friend? Of course! At the very least you can." Reno said quickly, surprised by the turn of events. Surprised but immensely pleased. "And that won't change unless you want it to and /do/ decide you wouldn't mind taking a swing at me. Even after you come back from your next trip to Junon."

            Reeve wiped his hand across his cheek and looked at Reno intently for a second. "You know about that?"

            "Yeah, Tseng told me Sunday. Well kind of. Her red royal rankness has a planned trip and Tseng was handing out the babysitting assignments. Dr Creepy even has a trip planned to Nibleheim. It's turning into quite a hectic state of affairs between Soldier and us. Why so interested?"

            "I was wondering how you knew. Apparently we still have to travel with bodyguards?"

            "Yeah, I tried to switch duties but Tseng was pretty adamant that it was either him or Cassian going to Nibleheim. Tseng, if he doesn't go to Nibleheim, or Rude with you. I'm stuck with Scarlet." Reno said scowling almost comically. "It was the only detail I was allowed. At least one Turk has to stay here and as a general rule, Tseng never leaves me here alone."

            "Allowed?"

            "That's pretty regular for the Nibleheim trip. I've gone before but only for a few days. And Tseng, well, he seems quite protective of you."

            "Only my friend again for five minutes and you're already teasing me."

            "I'm not teasing." Reno  protested, "He just gets worked up easily. Even if you /did/ want to smash my head in with a blunt piece of wood, it wouldn't be like being your bodyguard meant you'd be forced to even talk to me all that much. Uncomfortability factor aside. That man just needs a vacation."

            Finally settling down enough to rely on his legs again, Reeve stood and made his way toward the kitchen muttering something about needing more beer.

            "Want one?"

            "Sure." Reno responded rising also and heading back to his spot on the couch. Reeve reappeared a couple of minutes later handing a bottle to Reno. "I think the others went flat on us." He explained. 'Anyway, I thought Tseng went on a vacation a little while ago." Reeve mentioned, glad to have something else to talk about for a little while. Both men knew all was not, as Reno had put it, forgiven and forgotten. But Reeve was content to try and tackle to idea of having a 'normal' conversation with Reno again.

            "Tseng? Vacation? Are you sure?" I would think those two words don't even fit into the same sentence."

            "He said something about seeing an old friend. Out of town." Reeve clarified. 

            "Like who?"

            "Someone that holds at least /some/ sway with him." Reeve shrugged, "I don't know, he didn't tell me."

            "Must have been a good friend then But I thought I knew all of Tseng's 'good' friends. And I can tell you, not one of them doesn't live in Midgar. If there were any I didn't know by now,  it would be in Wutai. But I can assure you that Tseng hasn't been to Wutai in quite some time. No, the last time Tseng has been out of the city was a couple of months ago. And even then it was only to Nibleheim on work detail with the professor."

            "Must have heard wrong." Reeve mused. But something tugged at the back of his mind. Something was off in what Tseng has said. "Did you say that it's usual that only Tseng and Cassian ever go to Nibleheim with the professor?"

            "Mostly. I've been out there a few times, but its only because the good doctor wanted to check on something and its not real safe to let the big wigs wander around by themselves that far out in the field."

            "What's out in Nibleheim that would make Shinra have a lab so far out of the way?" Reeve asked himself with sudden interest.

            "Not a hell of a lot." Reno answered for him, intrigued by Reeve's interest. "The lab of course, the town, the mountains, and…"

            "The reactor!"

            Reeve came over to the couch to sort through the pile of papers that were still sitting on the couch next to where Reno where Reeve had dumped his work.

            "What's wrong?"

            "The Nibleheim reactor. One of the oldest reactors on the planet built high in the Nible mountains. It services Nibleheim, Rocket Town and some of the outlying places around Cosmo Canyon that have converted to mako power. Now tell me why one of the oldest reactors, that was only build to service two townships have the second highest usage rating out of all the reactors in the world?"

            "Its because it doesn't service just two towns. You forgot Cosmo."

            "No I didn't. Cosmo Canyon doesn't use mako energy, they don't believe in it." Reeve found the right file and flipped through its contents till he found what he was after. "Even the number one, the most used reactor in Midgar doesn't use up that much energy. Only to Junon Underwater reactor could match the usage output and that reactor is designed to be able to cater for the power for a very expansive city and all its defenses."

            "I get the feeling I've missed something very important." Reno muttered.

            Reeve ignored him ,caught up in his own revelation. "I missed it to. When I first went over this I didn't remember that we don't service Cosmo Canyon and I wouldn't have remembered if you hadn't got me thinking what was so special about it. I mean you're right. There is nothing special about Nibleheim. It's a small town with little needs for such large amounts of power.  The same can be said about Rocket Town now that the Space Program is no longer progressing."

            "I still don't know that the hell you're getting at."

            Reeve seemed to snap out of his excitement phase and resumed talking at a normal pace. "Can you do me a favor Reno?"

            "Sure, your wish is my command."

            "Can you find out who this friend is in Nibleheim?"

            "I can try. But I still don't think there's anything to find. Tseng does tend to lean toward his need to mysterious a little too often. He might have been talking shit."

            "It's a possibility. But I think it was more than that. I think it was a hidden clue."

            "Hidden clue? I think you've been hanging around him for too long. What's going on?"

            Reeve replaced the folder in the pile and went back to his chair. "I'll tell you when I know more myself. Besides, this is Rufus' thing."

            "No more needs to be said in that case then. Rufus does enjoy his hobbies and I don't want him to become disinterested because all the facts aren't so secretive anymore." Reno told him. "Why are you helping Rufus with this anyway? I would have thought you'd have enough of your own stuff to do."

            "That's true enough." Reeve agreed. "Honestly I don't know. I guess my nice deep ended up swamping me."

            "You two have become awfully…chummy." 

Reno's tone was lost on Reeve though. "So long as I don't forget that he's still my boss at work, he's actually a good friend. Why do you ask?"

            Reno already had a lie prepared for the inevitable question. But at the last second he couldn't end up using it. Not on Reeve. Not now.

            "Jealously is a curse. That and Tseng's not the only one to be a little protective of you." Reno stated as jovially as he could.

            It worked so well that Reeve believed he /was/ joking.

            "And why would I need to be protected from Rufus?"

            "I'm not saying you do. You're a big boy and I'm sure you can look after yourself if Rufus decides that being friends isn't enough for him. I just don't want to see you get hurt again if it's within my power to stop it is all. Not again. Rufus has a tendency to be a little unfriendly to those he conquers after the deed is done."

            "Oh please!" Reeve began. But then he noticed the serious expression on Reno's face and lost whatever humor he'd had. "You're serious aren't you? Why would Rufus Shinra be interested in me anyway? I wouldn't have thought I'd be his type, not to mention I am a guy."

            "Doesn't seem to matter to Rufus anymore. And what do you mean you're not his type?" _He has expressed an interest._ "But it's none of my business, like I said, I just want Rufus to think before he acts."

            "You /are/ serious. Hey what did you mean you were jealous?"

            Reno sat forward in his seat, severely wishing now that he had lied instead.

            "In the interests of our new friendship. You don't want me to answer that question."

*********

            _Notes: short sweet and to my point. Some of you might say that I rushed it. That I could have dragged their 'make up' over days in the monsters time line. Even months. But what can I say? The self pity they were going through was getting old. Sides it's not much of a fic if our two main characters don't interact anymore. Trust is still an issue so we'll see how they go. And yeah, I know, I made a big mistake bringing Rufus too far into this. It's all starting to sound as absurd as the whole Scarlet fiasco. I'm not proud of it. Maybe I just can't get by without a jealous character. Rufus did originally have a very different fate for this part that one reader managed to pick out, but I ultimately ended up discarding it for want of more plot. Well, I may change my mind. But I won't tell you what it was :p…oh well, read on, I'll make the next chapter longer to compensate I just thought that Reeve and Reno deserved a chapter all to themselves. Next chapter will be set a month or so after this one so the boys have had some time to acclimatize to their new friendship again._

_            More coming_

_            AF_

**_If you are so inclined, I strongly suggest e-mailing Ace and embarrassing her with praise for going above and beyond the call of duty. For without her it may not have continued for another month!_**

**_acelynd@excite.com_**

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_            All stories are kept on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar_

_            http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/_


	6. New Relationships

What You Do To Me

_By AF_

Chapter 6 New Relationships. By AF & Ace 

She was not having, might you might call a good day. She had spent most of her day preparing for her boss's trip to Wutai. And she had been doing this under the assumption that when he left, she would be in charge of his office till his return. But not only was the greasy old bastard picky over the planner she had set up for him, he also wasn't leaving her with the department. In fact, while he was gone, he wasn't even going to leave her with a job. He had given her two choices over this. Either change her mind and accompany him to Wutai, or spend the next month in Midgar without a job.  And considering going with him meant basically accepting all his see-through attempts to get into her pants, she would rather spend the time starving in her little one bedroom apartment thank you very much. It wasn't as if she was incapable of handling the job, it was more that her boss didn't think she was. It seemed, according to him women were only good for one thing. Sex. A fact she had learnt the hard way the day after he had hired her. And if she hadn't warned him off his advances by threatening to call the cops, it was a very likely thing that she would have come home from that day at work with nothing but a torn dress and tears. Apparently he hadn't hired her because she was a good worker. He had hired her because he had liked looking down the blouse she had worn to her interview. It was sad enough to think that she had stayed there after that first day. Why not just gather whatever pride she had left, decked the bastard and left never to return? The answer was easy; money. She didn't have any. Get another job or starve. She didn't even have the money to go home to Junon, nor did she have anyone to borrow any off. Well that wasn't entirely true. There were perhaps a few of her father's old business friends in Midgar she might have went to. But she hadn't let herself beg. She wouldn't. It had been her decision to come here. It would be up to her to now get herself away. And she did want to leave. She hated Midgar. Everything was expensive, there never seemed to be any true sunlight, and it was a beacon for her failings.  There was hardly anywhere you could go on the Plates where you couldn't see the mighty Shinra Tower. Therefore there was no getting away from the reminder of what she had thrown away because of some defiant streak that told her to walk away. And not just walk away, but throw away any chance she would have of getting a second go at the richest and largest company on the face of the planet. And the killer was that she wasn't even sure why she cared so much about it. A chance to go back to the life of prosperity that she'd once had? Perhaps.  It had been a silly idea, whatever the case. True, her old life was gone, but that didn't mean she was going to give up so easily. Her father's company had gone under, along with her father, leaving her pretty much out on the street. But she had talent. She had been working in that company since she was old enough to count over one hundred. Surely she had the skills to survive on her own. Well that is what she had told herself. The ultimate optimist. How wrong had she been. Her skills were from a job she hadn't received certified training for. And without credentials, you had no skills in the eyes of an employer. And she was too old to be starting from scratch. And she was too proud to beg. And she, she had found out, was too stubborn to swallow her dignity and conform to Shinra. 

            Life, she therefore admitted, sucked.

            And on top of that, it was beginning to rain.

            Still three blocks from her apartment building, that seemed just one stop up from the slums, she pulled her flimsy coat around her shoulders and hunched herself over in an attempt to stay at least a little dry. It didn't work. The driving rain soon soaked her totally from head to toe and left her shivering. 

            The perfect end to a perfect day.

            She was in a foul enough mood when she finally reached her building without being hassled by a strange man in the entryway. Knowing that her area wasn't exactly the best one to be socializing with strange men on the street, she kept her eyes down and almost walked right past him. But he stepped in her way, blocking her path.

            "Excuse me Miss, I'm looking for a-"

            At the sound of his voice, she raised her head and looked at him in surprise. She had thought she recognized the voice, but she almost expected that her mind might be playing tricks on her after her horrible and tiring day. His voice tapered off when he saw her face and a grin spread across his face. That familiar cocky half grin. She was so stunned she couldn't speak.

            "Jeez El, you look like a drowned cat. Bad day?"

            She nodded, still stunned. His grin only widened.

            "Well I think you'll find your day just got a whole lot better."

*******************************************************************

            "Reno? What /are/ you doing?"

            "What does it look like I'm doing?"

            Tseng paused, obviously thinking this was a trick question. He certainly knew what it looked like Reno was trying to do. He just couldn't work out why he was doing it. Why would anyone?

            "Like you are trying to see how far you can stick your pencil up your left nostril."

            "It is, how you say. Why did you bother to ask?"

            Tseng was asking himself that very same question.

            Reno's office was in its usual disarray. Well Reno's half of the office was anyway. On one side sat a tidy brown desk. Vacant, neat and surrounded in an air of organization that reeked of Rude. Halfway across the room, the cleared floor ended at a shoreline of papers, food wrappers and an unidentifiable smell that Tseng could only imagine coming from something that was either dead, or had always been but wasn't now. The desk wasn't in much better condition. Well Tseng assumed Reno still had a desk. The only indications that it was actually there was that the mound was a little higher just in front of where Reno was reclined, feet crushing parts of the higher mound. He wore a severe look of concentration as if he were taking this experiment with his pencil very seriously. Tseng wouldn't have been surprised either way.

            "I hope you fed the roaches this morning Reno. I get the feeling I'm being watched from somewhere under there."

            "S'not the roaches you have to worry 'bout boss. It's the mould I've been growing in one of Rude's coffee cups that'll bite your head off."

            Tseng raised a dark eyebrow at Reno. "And why should I be scared of mould?" He asked buying into the joke.

            Reno threw the pencil away and gave his boss his full attention. "'Cause it escaped last Tuesday."

            Tseng rubbed a hand over his face and laughed softly. "I'll take that as a serious warning then. Are you making a special effort with the office today? I could have sworn it wasn't this bad this morning."

            "I got bored." Reno shrugged. "Figured I'd redecorate. Rude's part of the office was starting to work a tidy path into my half so I thought I better fix it. Where is he anyway? I haven't seen him all day."

            "He's recruiting. There are a couple of jobs that need doing while we are away so I told him to go down and see Cassian about having Soldier fill in on a couple of them."

            "I guess that mean that it is you and me that'll be spending our days in beautiful smoggy Junon. Cas drew the short stick did he?"

            "Something like that. And that is mostly the reason I am here."

            "Didn't think it was a social visit. What's up?"

            "You need to go and see Scarlet and get a copy of her itinerary for the trip remember? You haven't done it yet, I checked with her." Tseng said in his most parental tone.

            And like the regular teenage son, Reno groaned and whined, "Do I have to?"

****

            Reno knocked lightly on the door to the workroom. Getting no reply, Reno stuck his head in through the doorway and took a casual look around. He found it odd that there were no workers around in the middle of the day. Usually Scarlet could be found drooling over her latest toy in the center table amidst a hive of activity as the techs jumped to her every command.

            The various workstations were all dark and silent. Reno could even hear the distant him of the air conditioning filtering through the vents. It was then that he realized that most if not all of the techs were probably already in Junon preparing things for Scarlet's arrival. With any luck, the cannon would be mostly finished by the time they got there and it would be short trip. Amazing the amount of work that could be done within a month. Maybe not quite amazing. Reno thought he might be able to build a small mako cannon single handedly if it meant he could escape the wrath of Scarlet.

            Though he could imagine how ready Scarlet's workers were to appease their boss lest they be the latest victim of her wrath. He was positive he'd heard a rumor that Scarlet had beaten one of her workers almost to death with a section of piping from the cannon because he'd made it the wrong color.

            "Knowing her, Junon will now be fitted with a bright shiny /red/ cannon. Gee that won't be a tearjerker to behold." He muttered sarcastically to himself.

            Walking across the work area, Reno headed toward the back rooms where Scarlet kept her offices. She had shunned the invite for a top floor office for two reasons. One; she would be closer to her precious weaponry prototypes here. And two; she had a vast amount more privacy.

            Rounding a corner, Reno was presented with two of the three glass walls that made up Scarlet's offices. All of the inside drapes were closed, but he could still see the harsh fluorescent glare seep out between each little crack.

            Damn, he'd hoped she wouldn't be in.

            He knocked a little more loudly this time and waited patiently for Scarlet to grant him admittance. It killed him to think that for the next week or so, Scarlet now had total authority to order him around. Bodyguard duty sucked enough as it was without this spiky iron thorn in his side. She couldn't exactly order him to kill someone, but to Reno that would have been preferable to what power she did have over him. It was more because he knew that for the next week he would probably be treated worse than a slave. His time was now her time. Wherever she went, he had to go with her. Whatever she wanted, he'd have to fetch. And he knew that Scarlet knew this. A ten year veteran of Shinra Inc, she'd probably know more about what she could get away with him doing than he did. A couple more days of freedom were left him. He suppressed a shudder.

            "Come."

            Almost losing his nerve, Reno hesitated for a brief second. He could face ten big muscley guys with machine guns, unarmed, but he wasn't prepared to work for Scarlet.

            Finding his resolve, he opened the door and stepped inside.

            "Ah Reno. Tseng told me that you'd be stopping by. Have a seat."

            _Is she actually grinning?_

"I've come to get a copy of your itinerary." Reno told her trying to sound professional.

            He took the proffered chair and watched as Scarlet rummaged through her desk trying to locate something. She seemed to find what she was looking for and handed a sheet of paper across the desk to Reno.

            "I can't believe we still have to be babysat." Scarlet pouted. "Still," she continued a little more brightly, "at least you're not all that boring. I suppose I could get used to it."

            "I wish you wouldn't." Reno muttered to himself.

            Scarlet heard it though and if anything her smile brightened further. "It'll be fun having the great Reno there to fetch my coffee and give me a foot massage."

            _Screw being professional._

            :"Do I get rubber gloves?"

            Scarlet leant forward slightly, just enough to show a nice amount of pale cleavage. "Who says you'll be using your hands?"

            Slightly disgusted, but ever the good sport, Reno grinned back. "You would use such a talented tongue on such an erroneous exercise? Shame on you Scarlet, I thought you had a better imagination than that."

            "Usually yes," Scarlet replied breezily, "but when it concerns you my imagination tends to get stamped down a bit. Probably after the last time you said no to me. You know sometimes I think there is something really wrong with you Reno for passing up such a potentially enjoyable opportunity."

            "Can't fault a man for having, well, eyes."

            Scarlet's face went red as her tempter flared. That was it. The comment that was just that one little bit too far. He supposed that considering the circumstances it might have been prudent to think before opening his mouth. If he somehow managed to piss Scarlet off before they left, he was going to be in for a bit of rough sailing in Junon.

            "But I can fault you for being an asshole. Now if you'd kindly remove yourself from my office, I have a lot to organize." She told him icily.

            Reno took the hint. He bit back any further comments and did as requested, not stopping his flight till he hit the outer work stations.

            "Real smart Reno." He muttered to himself smacking his head lightly with his palm. "Just fucking brilliant."

********

            "The pissed off nymphomaniac will probably have me give her a full body massage in a maid's outfit or something." Reno whined rolling onto his back.

            The grass made him itch through his thin cotton tee shirt but Reno ignored it. He wasn't used to grass. Midgar only had one place in the entire city that actual grass grew. Not naturally of course. The grounds were meticulously cared for by a troupe of well paid gardeners. But the effect was worth the effort. He was glad that all the Very Important People on the plates has whined about not having a park for their children to play in. It had prompted the city engineers to create this park with trees, flowers, and the works just to appease the people. A Shinra funded enterprise naturally and one that Reeve had been very proud of.

            It sure as hell beat looking at his marvelous view of a brick wall back at his own apartment. And it also provided neutral territory to meet with a friend over the last month or so. A safe friendly atmosphere to discuss work and life without the cloud of cigarette smoke and drunken assholes to have to be heard over.

            The only thing that annoyed Reno was that he liked being one of those drunken assholes and whenever he tried to create his own smoke haze he got nasty looks from the gardeners when they passed by him and his mound of cigarette stubs that he had thoughtlessly stubbed out in their beautiful well cared for grass.

            "Well, you've got the hips to pull off such an outfit. And black and white is very you." Reeve answered jokingly from somewhere beyond Reno's head.

            The only thing that seemed more remarkable in this park than growing grass in Midgar had to be the man sitting cross-legged on the grass somewhere beyond Reno's head. For all intents and purposes Reeve looked about as into the conversation as the caterpillar crawling up Reno's arm. He sat with papers strew across his lap, head bowed, intently studying everything he read. But Reno knew better than to think the other man wasn't paying attention. Reno could be discussing the laws of physics and Reeve would still be able to make an intelligent and focused conversation out of it without having to lift his head from his work once.

            "With the present dilemma I'm facing you'll excuse me if I don't take that as a compliment." Reno grumbled.

            Just being Reeve's friend wasn't as hard as Reno had initially thought it would be. No mention of dark past events was ever discussed between the two and Reno had found out just how much he'd missed his friend before. Sure he missed a lot more than that sometimes, but he was getting used to the fact that /that/ was not within the realms of possibility.

            _Hell, I didn't even think he'd want to talk to me again, let alone want to be friends._

And Reno would have taken any chance to make amends as he could. 

            "Grrr, maybe you should do me a favor and cut out my tongue. That way I will be safe to be out among the populace again."

            "If I cut out your tongue neither I or Tseng will be able to hear you screams. So we won't be able to come rescue you."

            "Good point."

            Reno rolled back onto his stomach and studied his friend's face for a moment. He decided it was time for the ritual of trying to get Reeve to stop work on his day off. He usually failed, but he couldn't just not try.

            "C'mon Reeve, it's a bright smoggy day. The people are out, the reactors are humming."

            "You're point?"

            "Put the friggin' work away man." Reno placed his open palm in the center of what Reeve was reading. "Do I haveta play got yer Shinra secret documents again?"

            Reeve finally looked up and smiled. The effect was startling. For probably the first time since Reno had bumped into Reeve in the elevator, Reno was actually witnessing one of the man's more genuine smiles. Not the unsure slight turned up mouth, but a full blown warm Reeve smile. It was dazzling, it was hearty. And it made Reno totally forget what the hell he was saying.

            "Please don't. I'd hate to have to explain to Rufus why all the invoices have grass stains on them."

            "I…ah…okay."

            The smile faded to be replaced by a look on concern. "Reno are you feeling alright?"

            Reno was aware that he must look like a fish that had been washed up on the beach, but there was unfortunately little he could do about it. He coughed uncomfortably. "Yeah..sure. So you and Rufus still digging your noses into things they don't belong in?"

            "Little else to do I'm afraid. The temp quarters they gave us in the lower half of the tower don't allow us to get much normal work done. At least you guys weren't effected by it. It'll be ages before they get down to the floors with the Turks' offices."

            "Find out anything interesting?"

            "Not a lot." Reeve admitted with a sigh. "I didn't realize how hard it would be to unearth the old files for the reactors, particularly the Nibleheim one." Reeve leant back to lean on his hands behind him.

            Reno didn't comment. He had offered to help Reeve ferret out a bit of information for Rufus' cause a while ago. Reeve had steadfastly refused. He knew Reno could probably find out a hell of a lot more than Reeve could on his own, it went with the job description. But he wasn't so involved in the dilemma to want Reno to risk his job doing something he shouldn't be.

            Removing his hand from Reeve's papers, he pushed his sunglasses further up onto his head and boosted himself up to lean on his elbows to better see Reeve.

            "Finished packing?"

            The only reason Reno had gotten this weekend off was because he was scheduled to leave for Junon tomorrow along with Reeve and Tseng. Apparently Shinra didn't see the cost effectiveness of sending the travelers off to the same destination in two trips of the helicopter. Reno couldn't have been happier with the news. The less time spent alone with Scarlet, the better.

            "Sure am. Shouldn't be there long. After all I'm just there to check up on the reactor and make sure Scarlet doesn't overload the system with that monster cannon. Kattie's coming out with me to help so I shouldn't be there for more than a few days."

            Reeve gave Reno a little grin at this. Reno might have to stay out there a little longer depending on how the test went.

            "Why does Scarlet need to stay out there after the test of the cannon anyway? I would have thought that by the time they fire the bloody thing, her job was over ya know."

            That small grin got a little wider. "Maybe she needs time for the maid's uniform to be finished."

            Reno smiled and scowled at the same time. Well, he was trying to scowl. He hadn't seen Reeve in such good spirits in a long time. "That's not funny! Not even remotely. God knows what that woman will do to me! You and Tseng mightn't even hear my scream through the gag. The only way you'll know I needed rescuing will be the next morning when you both find me naked, tied to her bed, comatose."

            Reeve tried very hard to not imagine /that/.  "Well..this is definitely the first time I've heard of the bodyguard as being the one needing rescuing. Anyway, this is her job, surely she'll be professional and realize you are only there for her own good."

            "Fat chance of that. I'd make a last ditch effort to swap with Tseng but I fear that he /would/ kill her and not just fantasize about it."

            "I've noticed they don't get alone very well. What happened?" Reeve asked curiously.

            "Dunno. I don't ask. If Tseng ever wants you to know something, he'll tell you." Reno answered simply.

            "Anyway I don't know if I'd want you to switch." Reeve said with an air of feigned arrogance. "Makes me feel special having the leader of the Turks personally guarding me. Is it true that you have to guard you charge with your life?"

            "You mean would I take a bullet for Scarlet? Good question. I'd like to think that I wouldn't', but reacting before thinking has been drummed into me so well that I probably would without even knowing it till I was bleeding to death. You don't have to worry about Tseng though. He takes his job very seriously."

            "Another reason I'm glad you didn't switch." Reeve said smiling at the joke.

            "Oh c'mon, it /is/ Scarlet. Other people are different."

            "What about me then?"

"You?" _I'd take more than bullets before I let you incur a scratch. _"Well, I'd definitely consider it."

Reeve laughed and rearranged his weight on his hands a little. "Well that's comforting to know."

"What can I say, I'm a partially dedicated professional."

Reeve lifted his hand and glanced at his watch grimacing. "Reno…"

Reno knew what was coming. "C'mon, we just got here. I can't be any later than three."

"It's five." Reeve explained. "I need to get some work done before we leave for Junon."

Reno tapped Reeve's knee twice with his finger, "You've been doing work ever since you got here." He reminded. "I'll buy you a nutritious dinner of hotdogs from that vender over there for another hour or two."

The offer was tempting. Even though he didn't actually like hotdogs.

*************

"So what'll I do while you're gone?"

            "Train." Reno answered throwing his bag over his shoulder and carrying it to the couch where he dumped it unceremoniously onto one of the cushions. It had been an easy matter for him to pack. He wouldn't be wearing much else other than his suit in Junon. Lucky for him. He had only been home for ten minutes when Elena had showed up at his door.

            "With who? You told me that I'd completed my time with the instructors.  I've only been back in the program a month and your leaving?"

            Sighing he turned to face her and crossed his arms over his chest. Sometimes he thought there would have been good points about picking a yes man instead of his own personal choice of Elena. She was never shy to ask a question or voice an opinion. And he knew she hated the thought of going back to training with the instructors. 

            "You make it sound like I'm leaving a marriage. Look El, Rude's gonna train you while I'm gone, don't fret."

            She simmered down a bit at that. Her and Rude seemed to get along well. One major factor of this seemed to be that he never interrupted her while she was talking with his own comments. That had endeared him to Elena from the get go. 

            "I'm not fretting.  I'm concerned that's all."

            "Look El. You have to get used to the idea that I can't train you all the time."

            "I know that. And I don't mind it really." A slow smile here. "Especially when I get to train with Tseng."

            "I'll bet." Reno remarked dryly. "So the only reason you came all the way over here is to make sure I wasn't leaving you with instructors?"

            "Not really." She admitted. "I just wanted to say goodbye I guess. I'll miss you."

            Reno grinned. "You mushy bitch El."

            Elena gave him the finger. 

            "This from such a refined lady such as yourself."

Elena shrugged, "You might say that I mixed with the wrong sort of people in my youth."

"Look I'm only gonna be gone for a few days. A week at the very most. And to show you just how much I care, I'll give you an assignment."

She groaned.

"While I'm gone I want you to dig around in the company files. I want you to find out about any Shinra employees that have come from or moved to Niblheim in the last forty years or so. In fact any personnel that have spent any lengthy amount of time there. The Turks usually keep records of their personnel before and after hiring as a kind of screen for affiliations with anything anti-Shinra. Most of it is logged on the Turk database," He assured seeing the sour look on her face, "so don't worry. I know how computer illiterate you are. You can use my pass code to gain access."

"I'm not computer illiterate." She replied stubbornly. "I just can't do all that hacky crap they tried to teach me. I can find a file. Why am I looking through it though?"

"A long shot. Just a hunch I had."

"About what?"

Reno frowned. "Secret Turks stuff El."

"In other words none of my business right? Fine." How could she so easily make it sound as though he was in the wrong for keeping it back? Women's private talent he supposed.

He crossed over to her and threw a casual arm over her shoulders and began leading her toward the front door. "I want you to keep me updated on everything you find out. And tell Rude you're due for some field trials too."

"Really? You think I'm good enough?" She asked hopefully.

"I have total faith in you El." He opened the door for her and swatted her rump to prompt her through it. "Now fuck off, you're cutting into my beauty sleep."

Elena turned back around to face him absently rubbing where he had swiped her with a none too impressed look on her face.

"Did you really mean it? About the total faith thing."

Reno offered her a smile. "Total." He began to close the door.

Her voice stopped him. "Hey, Reno? Thank you."

"You'll make a good Turk. I told you that once before didn't I?"

Elena nodded and turned to leave, allowing Reno to close his door.

****************************************************************************

"Kattie's….cheerful."

Reeve laughed and swung the door open fully to admit the two men into the room. "She is that." Reeve agreed.

Tseng closed the door behind him and began wandering around the hotel room. To anyone else it looked like the aimless wandering of someone not interested in their surroundings. Reeve knew better. He'd had to live through this treatment of Tseng's nightly walkthroughs back in Midgar for more than a fortnight. Tseng was checking the place with a trained eye, making sure nothing was out of place and everything was safe for Reeve. Tseng would do this every night they were in Junon.

At night they would be separated by a single wall. Tseng's room was next door, the two suites were joined by a connecting door in case of emergency. Tseng had given him implicit instructions that the door was to stay unlocked at all times.

Reeve was a little uncomfortable with the breech of privacy, but he knew it was standard routine and it was supposed to be for his own good. He swallowed the order with a smile and a nod.

Tseng disappeared out of the main room for a while to check the others making Reeve shout to be heard. 

"She's the best in my department though. I couldn't do without her."

He dumped his briefcase and traveling case on the expensive looking cream couch together with his briefcase and took off his jacket.

"I wasn't commenting on her technical skills." Tseng said as he came back into the main room. "Just her personal skills."

It didn't surprise Reeve that Kattie's buoyant nature had grated badly on both of the Turk's nerves. Even Reno who wasn't as serious about things as Tseng always appeared to be. A small grin crept over his face at the reminder of Reno. He could still see the look of carefully concealed horror as Scarlet and he had left the airport ahead of them.

Tseng took a moment to rest up against the back of the couch in what seemed to be Tseng's natural pose in any living room and gave Reeve a curious look. "Something wrong?"

"I was just thinking about how the others will fare. I could swear the look Reno gave us at the airport was asking us ;'kill me now'." Reeve joked pulling his tie up and over his head and throwing it toward the ever expanding pile on the couch behind Tseng.

Tseng almost smiled. "He'll be professional. He knows he has to be. Scarlet I'm not so sure of."

"Poor guy." Reeve commented sitting beside his piles of things.

Tseng raised an eyebrow at the other man but didn't comment on the observation. Instead he pushed himself off the sofa and straightened up. "No doubt you're exhausted after your day. I'll leave you to get some rest and I will see you tomorrow at eight am. If you need anything…"

Reeve lifted up a hand and waved Tseng off. "Yeah, you'll be right next door. I know. Goodnight Tseng."

"Goodnight Mr. Evans."

Tseng turned and walked toward the connecting door.

*****************

Reno unlocked the door to Scarlet's apartment and pushed it open with his hip. Both hands were full carrying Scarlet's luggage.  Carrying it into the room proper he was just about to set it down when he heard a sweet voice behind him ask; "Be a dear and carry my things into the bedroom."

Not wanting to start another argument he obeyed quickly hoping to get this over with and be able to escape to his own room. On his way back from the bedroom he made a casual sweep of the rooms, which involved nothing more than a glance around him for a few seconds and came back to find Scarlet lighting a lamp by the plush sofa.

"Everything looks clear." He announced. "I'll leave you to yourself."

He made it as far as a few paces before Scarlet spoke. "Before you go, make me a coffee. There's a good boy."

He narrowed his eyes at her and suppressed the urge to growl. He had been expecting something like this. He also expected that this was only the beginning. 

"These rooms don't have kitchens." Reno reminded her, surprised at his own control. "Room service should be able to cater to your needs."

Scarlet stood before him, hands on hips, that faintest look of amusement coloring her pale features. She really was quite pretty. Pity she was such a bitch.

"Well, call room service then. I would also like something to eat," she smiled, "something sweet with cream. Terrible to my diet I know, but I have the strangest urge to celebrate. The cannon and all. Also, there is no need for you to be running off to your own room pet. You'll be spending the night here."

            /That/ was what he had been expecting.

            "I'm afraid my boss wouldn't allow that Scarlet." Very afraid.

            _And neither would any common sense I still have._

"Ah, but it is allowed if I feel that I am in dire need on constant protection." She took a few steps closer to him, her slim hips swinging languidly. "And I am. In dire need on protection that is."

            The girl had been doing her homework. If Scarlet felt that her life was in immediate danger she could order Reno to stay by her during the night. He'd hoped she wouldn't have picked up on that catch.

            "Pardon me Scarlet," Reno spoke frankly, "But you don't look exactly frightened."

            "I'm shivering on the inside." She told him. "Order room service and bring it into me when it comes. You can make your sleeping area by my bed."

            He watched her saunter across the room and disappear into the bedroom.

            "I'm going to be sick." Reno muttered to himself.

            Picking up the phone and dialing downstairs he gave serious thought as to whether or not he should ring Tseng. No doubt Tseng would come over and sort things out, he was after all in the same hotel, a couple of floors down. Reno didn't exactly want to be the cause of the argument that would ensue. Scarlet was still well within her rights and bitching about it would only get both him and Tseng in trouble.

            He ordered Scarlet a sundae and a coffee and some extra blankets before setting the phone down and removing his jacket. By the time he was finished with his shoes and tie he heard the quiet knock at the door. Normally on such a job he was required to keep his weapon handy and check the peephole when answering the door. Not this time. This time he almost wished it was some guys bent on laying the place to waste instead of the pimply server he did end up with.

            Mug and bowel in hand, he drew a deep breath and entered Scarlet's bedroom. Again it was to be expected.

            Decked out in the barest of red satin, reclined against the pillows of the oversized hotel bed, she gave him a languid smile and pointed to a section of the floor in between the window and her bed, farthest away from the door.

            "You may sleep there." She informed him lazily. "I'd invite you into a more comfortable sleeping position, but alas I feel I would be overstepping my boundaries."

            Reno, fed up with being baited merely nodded. He walked to her bedside and put down his burden before fetching the extra blankets and spreading them over his floor space.

            "Lights." Scarlet reminded him before he had a chance to get comfortable.

            "You want to eat in the dark?" He asked pointedly.

            "I'm no longer hungry."

            That taken care of, he lay down on the spread blanket and closed his eyes, praying for sleep.

            "Are you going to sleep in your uniform?" He heard a voice drift down to him.

            "If you keep talking I won't be sleeping. Besides, if your dire feeling were to prove true it would be improper of me to chase criminals down the streets in the raw."

            "I wouldn't mind." She assured him. "I bet if I were Reeve /you/ wouldn't mind either."

            It didn't surprise him that Scarlet thought he might try to change duties with Tseng. And it never surprised him to know that almost everybody seemed to know about him and Reeve even though there was no him and Reeve anymore.

            "Scarlet, if you were Reeve, I wouldn't be having this conversation. I wouldn't even be in here. And if you were Reeve you wouldn't have to torture men this way just to get them to sleep in the same room as you."

            The few seconds of silence that followed told Reno he had yet again, gone too far. The silence didn't last though.

            "Of course, our illustrious Mr. Evans just has people falling for him left and right doesn't he?" She intoned sarcastically. "In fact I bet that Tseng is in his room right now falling before him."

            Reno couldn't help himself. He cracked up laughing.

            Boosting himself up, he leant on the side of the bed to be able to see the dim outline of Scarlet's scowl.

            "You know if that were likely, we should be over there right now with a spy camera. Mind you I think there are more likely chances of you wearing something that covered you cleavage."

            "Or you saying something that wasn't a smart assed moronic attempt at proper conversation." She agreed. "What is it about that man that people seem to find so agreeable? Not even Rufus has been returning my calls of late."

            With the last comment Reno heard something a little more deep in Scarlet's tone. Obviously this was something that was worrying her. Did Rufus mean more to her than she let on? If Reno even liked Scarlet he realized that now was the time to be tactful and not hurt her feelings.

            Reno lay back down.

            Pity he didn't actually like Scarlet.

            "He's not you."

            "Eat me Reno."

            "I hope that wasn't an order." He grimaced. "I just meant that perhaps Reeve has that quality about him that actually allows one to be able to talk to the man. The only bond you and Rufus have ever had has been secrets and sex. And if I'm to believe any of the rumors I've heard, you yourself was after Reeve…"

            "Reno shut up before I /do/ make it an order."

            Reno smiled and wondered whether Scarlet would want him in here a second night…

**********************************************************************

            _Notes: So there you have it. This one is one of those chapters that forgot plot line again and went off to antagonize the readers. It  occurred to me that I had begun to make our Reeve out to be some kind of irresistible sex idol. I guess it was all my guy friends complaining that all the nice guys finish last. But I do admit that I took it to the extremes This /is/ Reeve after all.. I mean obviously Reno is after him. Rufus has definitely been contemplating it. Scarlet did everything but rape him (and a nastier part of me was thinking about it). God even HOJO had a little perve! All part of that irresistible nice guy charm I suppose, but I will admit, it was getting out of control. So why not have someone who has some feelings for someone else for a fucking change! I mean I know I've been putting little things in about Rufus and Reno. Not that that was ever that serious. Why not have Scarlet have an OOC experience as well? Hmmm, could she possibly have deeper feelings for Rufus, or is she just missing his dick? Stay tuned and find out. For those of you utterly uninterested, more chapters with actual plot will be forthcoming also. I know this chapter was a little disjointed but I needed them to cover a bit of time and get them off to Junon._

_            Many thanks to Ace again who practically co-authored this chapter by adding and changing a few works meant for her University class. But it went well and I commend her allowing me to use them._

_Added note: Some of you have been expressing worry that our fav boys are going to stay cool chums and not their usual warm cuddly selves. I say to you; do no underestimate the power of sexual tension. Past aside they still clearly have feelings for each other and frankly I could build a story on that alone. ;)_

_Your own warm cuddly chum_

_AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_All stories are stored on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar_

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/_

_Join the mailing list and please don't forget to review if you really liked it….or really hated it._


	7. Reeve's Little Dilemma

What You Do To Me

_By AF_

**Chapter 6**

Reeve's Little Dilemma.

            Rufus growled, and threw the files he had been looking at away from him. They slid across the floor before exploding against the far wall in a shower of papers. Sitting back he rubbed his eyelids with his fingertips and tried to regain some of his lost calm.

            His investigation wasn't going so well. Since his and Reeve's breakthrough over the budgets he had been running into wall after wall that prevented him from finding out any more.  He had interviewed various department heads and got nothing back from them. None had been surprised over the expenditures for their departments and had merely shrugged saying that it must have been an oversight. There remained only two people he hadn't talked to. Heidigar and Hojo. Heidigar would be a waste of time, he knew. His department was so vast and had so many expenses, tracking down faults would be near impossible. No, better to rely on Tseng and Cassian for that. Reeve had assured him that Tseng had his department under control and Cassian was currently looking into his own. All that left was Hojo. And so far the man had been unavailable for a good few weeks now. The whole problem was so frustrating he found it hard to sit still any more without his mind mulling over the problem again and again. 

            Lowering his hand and opening his eyes he stared at his desk sullenly till his eyes found another file sitting just off to the side of the pile he'd been working on. Picking it up he saw familiar neat handwriting printed on the front along with the date. It was Reeve's handwriting. Yet another thing that frustrated him. He should have never gotten the other man involved with the investigation. For one thing Reeve's own work was enough for two men to handle at the moment. For another, there were just some things his friend shouldn't find out about. It had been smart of Reeve to stumble upon the flaw about the Nibleheim Reactor. But it remained to be seen how smart Rufus had been about bringing him the information in the first place. Reeve had needed the information to look over department expenditures, but Rufus had never intended for him to realize just what those figures might portend. Now he was sure that Reeve thought the figures had been falsified. It said as much in the report Rufus held. But Rufus knew better. The reactor really was using that much energy. And for a reason Reeve would probably be better off not knowing about. The Soldier mako infusions were no secret to Rufus. Nor should they be to Reeve. Not when there was an infusion plant inside Reactor Seven here in Midgar. But Nibleheim didn't really infuse Soldiers. Not really. And he had a fairly good idea about what did go on in the reactor. As well as the particularly inhumane treatment of certain ex-Soldiers within that reactor. And he was very sure that those particular details were something that the Head of Urban Development did not need to know. Sticking his nose into that might mean him being fired. Or worse. But he had taken off with the idea and there was little Rufus could do to stop it short of telling the other man everything he knew. Better to try to redirect Reeve's attention back to their initial problems. And that was Kramer's Crap. Perhaps it was linked with what was going on in Nibleheim, perhaps not. For now he would agree with Reeve and let it go at that. He could always confront Hojo about Nibleheim if he ever got a chance to talk to the slimy bastard. He was half believing as it was that if there was any extra money, it was going to Hojo's Science Department. He'd bet his beloved car on it. It was the 'for what' that had Rufus' brain in a knot. After all, Kramer had mentioned the Science Department as having some hand in this anyway. Rufus didn't like that. He didn't like the idea that Hojo needed money for something that he couldn't put through the proper channels. As it was Hojo's expenditure list read like some creepy horror novel so long as you knew how to read it along with code names. Rufus did. Unfortunately. Well most of them. A few were still fuzzy. But they would only take time to decipher. Right now he just needed to find out whether the late Mr. Kramer was onto something or not. Then he could work out where all that money was going.

            Clasping the file tightly in one hand Rufus depressed the switch on his intercom. "Ruby?"

            "Yes Mr. Shinra." Came the immediate reply.

            "Find out where Rude of the Turks is and get him to report to me. He can find me in the Accounting Department."

            "Yes Sir."

            Grabbing his coat off the back of his chair he struggled into it before making his way to the door.

*

            One thing Rufus had learnt at an early age was that there was no such thing as a private personal life in Shinra. It didn't matter who you were or where you came from, there was always at least one other person in the building if not ten who knew details about your life that you weren't even aware of. For Rufus that had been a part of growing up. And he had suffered from it more than his father for two distinct reasons. One was that Rufus didn't have a troupe of people especially employed for the task of covering things up for you. The other was that Rufus never especially cared who knew what about him. He never had. He didn't care if half the people in the building thought he was an icy-eyed nymphomaniac with an undeniable streak of asshole thrown in because, basically, it happened to be true. And people could frown behind his back all they wanted. He only ever cared in what he could see before him. And what he saw was a group of people who respected and feared him together with an endless supply of one-night stands who never tricked themselves into believing it would ever be more. He felt that because of such an image people knew what to expect and acted accordingly. And it forestalled any need on Rufus' part to explain to people what he expected from them. 

            There were always exceptions to this general rule of course. Always. There were always one or two people who knew you especially well enough to know more than what the rumors told them. In Rufus' experience this had always been Scarlet, Tseng and the Turks. Scarlet because he used to believe he had found someone near enough like him to keep close. And the Turks because that's how it had always been. When he had been younger, they had been his teachers. Now they were his friends. And most were too strong of mind to simply believe all they heard. 

Exhibit A – Reno. 

Reno had gotten to know Rufus long before he would have heard any rumors. And to be honest, they hadn't meshed extremely well at first. And so he had been the first person Rufus had met that had openly disliked, taunted and ridiculed him. Nothing that past Turks hadn't done to some degree before though definitely not openly disliked, and always would stop if Rufus ceased being amused by it. Reno was relentless though and Rufus had found that oddly comforting. The relationship hadn't changed much except the dislike had turned into friendship and the pair had grown closer. Reno was like a big kid, and therefore bought out the big kid in Rufus. A big kid that Rufus hadn't even been aware of having inside him. 

Reno was also one of these people that seemed to know things about him even before Rufus fully knew. 

And it was exactly this kind of friendship he was hunting for in the Accounting Department. He wanted to find Kramer's 'Reno' friend. Or at the very least his 'Wendy' type friend. Either friend or fuck would suffice. Both might know more about Kramer than papers and files could ever tell him. And with any luck, he might find both.

But by the end of an hour, Rufus was beginning to despair. He was beginning to think that Kramer had been no less than a silent hermit who had taken a vow of celibacy.  It was possible that his lifetime's experience in the company rumor mill was somehow flawed or that one of the man's co-workers was holding out on him.  He was more inclined to the latter. Rufus made it his business to know every rumor the company churned out. And he refused to believe he was wrong about this.

He was just about to give up questioning the sixth co-worker when he caught sight of Rude hovering just out in the hall. Excusing himself he went to meet with the Turk.

"You took your fucking time. Where were you, Costa?"

Rude took the question with a bland expression and a nod toward a woman standing just behind him and off to the side. A pretty woman in a black suit and white blouse with short blond hair and a nervous smile.

"Field exercises."

"Recruit?" Rufus guessed. 

"Reno's."

Rufus gave Rude a questioning look as if to ask 'really?' To which Rude nodded slightly. Rufus looked the woman up and down a few times before commenting, 

"Figures." To Rude he continued, "I have a job for you."

***

Reeve stood just inside the main doors to the Junon Underwater Reactor.  

            Bliss was hardly the word for it.  Awe.  Pride maybe.  

            _Either word would be fitting, _Tseng thought as he watched his companions face as they stood side by side.  Even thought Reeve hadn't actually had anything to do with the original planning for the reactor, Tseng knew enough to know that Reeve was the man, the only man in the history of Shinra, that had been able to get the reactor to function properly and smoothly.  His new designs, his first big project with the company, had been the difference between keeping the reactor running and scrapping the entire project when the reactor didn't perform up to President Shinra's lofty standards.  It now had the capabilities of providing power for the entire city of Junon and more.

            Unfortunately it was the 'more' that Scarlet now wanted to utilize with her huge mako cannon being build into the cities defenses topside.

            Tseng couldn't understand why the cannon was even being built.  The war with Wutai was long over, what more could Shinra have to fear?  Maybe the threat was now neutralized, but now the threat would be totally scared shitless.  Surely no one would ever dream of attacking Junon now.  Perhaps that was the idea all along.  That or Shinra was playing the role of the big powerful bully to the max and building the cannon simply to intimidate everyone for the simple fact that, They were Shinra, and They could do whatever the hell They wanted to.

            Any scenario fit really, but Tseng didn't really dwell on any of them. Why bother? Shinra could throw their weight around all they wanted to, and there was no one anywhere that could stop them or anyone that might even care anymore.  War was not an issue.

            The look on Reeve's face reflected much the same.  He didn't look like he cared that they were building a weapon of mass destruction.  All Reeve seemed to care about was the reactor.  He looked around the place much like a proud parent would look at a child.  Tseng had to wonder whether Reeve was actually down here to do any work or whether he was just going to stand around all day beaming at the masses of pipes and catwalks.

            Finally Reeve seemed to snap out of his daze and begin walking further into the reactor proper.

            Kattie came up behind them.  While she didn't look quite as awestruck as Reeve had she wore an uncharacteristically serious expression.  Tseng was quite surprised.  The usual chatty and buoyant woman followed her boss around the reactor, viewing everything with a critical eye, her mind on the tasks before her.

            Reeve stopped his wanderings and turned back toward Kattie.

            "I want to check the core.  Could you go up and check the readings from the main room for me?"

            "Sure boss."

            Kattie turned away and trotted off in the opposite direction while Reeve and Tseng continued onto the core.

            One thing that Tseng had noticed was the absence of any techs.  He knew that in Midgar the reactors were bustling with technicians and guards.  So far Tseng hadn't seen as much as a mouse down here.

            "Personnel?"  Tseng asked as they entered yet another empty room.

            "The reactor is fully automated."  Reeve beamed proudly.  "And guards don't really need to be posted down here.  There are only two ways in here.  One is through the way we came down which is usually guarded from above.  The other is the submarine docks on the other side of the core room.  We're hoping to make all the reactors fully automated within a years time.  Technicians will still make rounds, especially in the heavily used ones in Midgar for safety's sake."

            They entered a room that came out onto a catwalk, a steel gray chamber dominating the center of the room that Tseng guess as the core.  Definitely not the same design as any Tseng had seen.

            "What about Nibleheim?"

            At this Reeve seemed to scowl.  "Apparently that reactor hasn't needed a full troupe of workers in a long time.  The machines are set to cater for the needs of the surrounding area's power, but it isn't the same computerized setup we have here in Junon."

            Tseng had already known all this, but he had hoped that Reeve might have offered some explanation as to why this was.  Why exactly Nibleheim had been the first fully automated reactor.  He got the feeling that it all must have happened before Reeve's time and that the other man was probably just as in the dark about it as he was.

            Rolling up his shirtsleeves, Reeve stopped by a panel near the cylindrical chamber in the center.  Reaching for a radio in his back pocket he flipped a few switches on the panel.  Immediately the panel lit up and the chamber began to hum softly.

            "Kattie?"  Reeve spoke into the radio.

            There was a few moments of static before they heard Kattie's voice come back to them.

            "I'm in the control room go ahead."

            Tseng listened to the basic conversation and realized that the two co-workers knew without instructions what they were expected to do.

            Reeve went ahead and continued to flick switches and press buttons.  The chamber beside them began the hum a little louder, the small viewing window in the side grew brighter with the usual soft green glow of mako.

            "How does it look?" Reeve asked into the radio.

            "Levels are rising uniformly, all are still within the green.  Mark it at two thousand and climbing."

            Reeve nodded to himself and continued.  The chamber was humming loudly now, the green glow started to take on a red color, pulsing with the rhythmic droning.

            "The level has evened off at five thousand Reeve."  Kattie told him.

            Tseng noticed that her voice sounded a little confused at the revelation.  It wasn't exactly something he wanted to hear when standing next to a reactor core.

            "Five thousand?  Are you sure? Did you close all the valves?"

            "All closed.  The pressure just isn't building up quick enough."

            Reeve cast a puzzled look at the chamber, then back to the panel in front of him before speaking into the radio again.

            "Kattie I can /hear/ the pressure rising it must just be a glitch in the computer.  We'll have to reverse it.  I don't want to keep building the energy up if we can't monitor it."

            "Understood."

            Reeve went back to the panel and apparently began reversing everything he'd just done.  Soon enough the chamber drone began to recede and the glow return to normal.

            "Open the exhaust valves, we need to vent this thing before we try again." He told Kattie.

            "Problem?"  Tseng asked.

            "You could say that."  Reeve muttered.

            Tseng noticed that he wasn't quite looking around him with the same pride was he had before.

            "This reactor has never needed to gather so much energy within the system before.  I should've known that the computer would have a problem monitoring it."

            Tseng knew he must be giving Reeve a look that told the other man plainly that he didn't understand.  

            Ever the patient teacher Reeve tried again.

            "Scarlet's cannon is like any other mako cannon.  It fires a burst of mako energy.  The cannon draws this burst of energy straight from the reactor itself. Now to obtain this energy…bullet, The reactor needs to gather energy quickly and condense it into these bursts, then just as quickly send it up to the cannon before any of the energy dissipates.  Junon already has something like thirty small mako cannons which the reactor is capable of firing individually at half second intervals four times over before all the energy stores are depleted and the reactor has to process more mako.  This the reactor can do that at normal working level, which is to say about seventy five percent full capacity.  Now, to fire the new cannon once we need the reactor to work at ninety eight percent and still have stores of power left to work the guidance computers and the computers here in the reactor.  In theory this can be done within the remaining two percent /if/ we run at full power.  This wasn't what we are having problems with though.  What is wrong now is that this reactor has never had to concentrate ninety eight percent of its power on anything before, let alone condense it into an energy burst for a singular cannon.  This wasn't something that the designers of the reactor ever thought it would have to do.  What we just found out is that we can raise the levels up to eighty five percent but anything higher than that the computer just fails to keep up, probably believing that anything higher means an overload.  When the reactor goes into an overload the computer will automatically release the pressure valves to cool it off and cause the power to dissipate. While we can override this function, we can't monitor the energy levels."

            Tseng was quite pleased to find that he had followed that quite well.  Except for one small thing.

            "If you can't monitor it what will happen?"

            Reeve sighed and ran a hand through his hair.  

            "The levels will keep rising till the reactor really does go into an overload.  If that happens the reactor will probably blow up before we get a chance to fix it."

            Well that sure answered his question.

            "I need to go up to the control room to see if I can fix it."  Reeve muttered looking at his watch.  It was late.  "Looks like I'm going to be here all night."

            "The first test is tomorrow afternoon."  Tseng reminded.

            "I know.  Don't worry I'll be bright eyed enough to see it through.  This is something of a necessity though. If I were you I'd go and get some rest. No really,"  Reeve began seeing Tseng's face, "I'm safer down here on my own than up in Junon surrounded by an army of Turks, Tseng.  There's no need for us to both lose sleep over this."

            Tseng had to admit, Reeve had a good point.

            "This also provides you with the perfect excuse not to have to go to the official's function tonight."  Tseng observed.

            Reeve smiled and shrugged.  "Reactors are temperamental things.  I'm sure Scarlet won't mind me missing her pre-cannon testing party if it is for a good case."

            Tseng nodded in agreement.  "Good enough. I guess I could go up and relieve Reno for a little while. Gods know he'll have been at that thing for an hour already."

*****************

            Reno had, in fact, been on the verge of shooting Scarlet, or himself, or both, in a blood rage bought on by the general function room atmosphere.  For and hour and a half he had followed Scarlet around as she socialized with important people and frankly he just wanted it all to end.  If he had to stand there and witness another one of her smug looks as a new person congratulated her on the impressive cannon, he was going to draw his gun.

            When Tseng had arrived and told him that he was going to relieve him for a few hours Reno did all he could not to French kiss his boss in the room packed with people.

            "Tell me you're not joking and I'll be your personal toy for eternity Tseng."

            Tseng's mouth curled up into a half smile.  "I'm not joking, but I can probably think of better things to do with eternity Reno.  I know Scarlet has been running you ragged, you deserve a couple of hours off."

            "What about Reeve?"

            "He will be spending the night making repairs in the reactor and doesn't need my service.  Just be back at the hotel by midnight, I'll see Scarlet back safely."

            Reno was almost misty eyed with relief.  "You're a god Tseng, you know that right.  Us mere mortals should be in awe of a generous being such as yourself."

            "Tick tick Reno.  Midnight."

            He didn't need any further prompting.  He left the building in record time only pausing once to snatch a glass of champagne off a startled waiter on his way out the door.

            Only problem now was, he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself.  He couldn't get drunk.  Technically he was on 24hr duty till he got back to Midgar and he sure as hell didn't want to spend any free time sleeping or just lazing about.

            Without quite realizing where he was going Reno found himself in the elevator that would take him down to the underwater reactor.  No doubt Reeve was probably busy, but Reno was in such need of a worthy distraction that he didn't let that one small fact bother him in the slightest.  

            After a quick search of the reactor Reno finally found him in what he took to be the control room.  At least he thought it must be Reeve.  He could only see the person's legs sticking out from beneath a console.

            Using stealth that was second nature to every Turk, Reno crept up on the unknowing figure and crouched down the see underneath the console that was hiding the man's face.

            It was Reeve.  He was poking around in some loose wiring, screwdriver in one hand, pen light clamped in between his teeth.

            "Not just a paper pusher are you Reeve."

            The shock to the other man must have been astonishing.  His body jumped with fright, his head bumping the underside of the console.

            "Ouch."  Reeve mumbled rubbing his sore head.

            "Sorry man, are you alright?"

            "I think my heart jumped up into the wiring."

            Reno sniggered.  "Want some help?"

            "Yes thank you."

            Hunkering down in between Reeve's bent legs, Reno grabbed Reeve's ankles and pulled the man out from beneath the computer.

            "Thanks."  Reeve said sitting up.   "You startled me."  He added unnecessarily.

            "So I noticed.  Sorry.  I didn't know what to do with my newfound time off.  You real busy?"

            "I can spare a few minutes. Help me up."

            Reno obligingly helped Reeve to his feet and watched him as he leant back against the console tiredly. 

            "You look like you could do with a break anyhow."

            "Actually I don't think I have much more to do.  The job was much simpler than I first thought."

            Reno's eyes widened at the news.  "Don't tell Tseng, he'll send me back to guard the beast if he thinks he's needed here."

            Reeve rubbed his eyes with his fingers.  "I don't think I'm in any danger.  Besides what's the difference which Turk takes me back to my hotel even if I did need to leave the reactor?"

            "To Tseng it would."  Reno grumbled.  "Especially when it gives him a good excuse to switch back to you from Scarlet."

            "Is it really that bad?"

            "First night I was here she made me sleep on the floor by her bed and keep me awake by bitching about Rufus and his sudden compulsion not to see her."

            Reeve looked astonished then confused.  "Rufus not seeing her?"

            "Her and Rufus have this special office relationship you see.  Lately it would seem that he has found better things to do with his time.  She's especially jealous about all the time he's been spending with you."

            "Fabulous."  Reeve muttered.  "But I can see why you would want to stay away from her for a while.  She really made you sleep on the floor by her bed?  Did she….?"

            Reno waved him off.  "No, nothing like that.  I think she just had simple torture on her mind.  I insulted her looks a couple of days before we left Midgar remember."

            Reeve smiled slightly at the comment then moved his hand to rub his temples a small expression of pain crossing his features.

            "Are you alright?"  Reno asked worriedly. "You look pale."

            "Headache."  Reeve answered simply.

            "Too much work."  Reno amended.  "Maybe I /should/ take you back to get some rest."

            He took a step closer to Reeve so he was standing directly in front of the other man, trying to see his face properly behind his hand.

            "This has to be done."

            "Where's Kattie?"

            "I sent her home.  It wasn't necessary for both of us to be here."

            Reno scowled at the other man.  "So you sent her home as opposed to yourself, who has probably not had a decent night's rest since you knew you were coming to Junon.  You're going to give yourself a stroke, you realize that don't you?"

            "I'm fine."  He assured.  

            Reno took a hold of the hand covering Reeve's face and moved it away so he could look at the other man properly.

            "You look like shit.  Call Kattie down here, I'm taking you back."

            The hand Reno still had gripped his tightly.  "No. I can do this. I just needed a little break."

            Reno gave Reeve a concerned look, but didn't push the issue.  "Okay. If you're sure."

            "Yeah I'm sure."  Reeve responded.

            They stood there for a few moments in uncomfortable silence before Reeve stepped away from the console, his hand still gripping Reno's and led him over to the back wall.  "C'mon I want you to see something."

            Reno obediently followed.

            Reeve let go of his hand and pointed at the back wall.  "Watch that."

            Leaving the Turk to stand by himself and watch a seemingly blank uninteresting wall.  Reeve walked over to one of the terminals and began typing.  The room grew dark apart from the glow of several computer monitors and a strange glow that had sprung up behind the blank wall he was watching.  The illuminated wall turned out to be glass panels that showed a view of the sea outside the reactor illuminated by the lights dotting the structure.

            Reno's eyes opened wide in astonishment.

            "Wow."

            Several small fish swam by the window and in amongst the sparse reeds on the ocean floor.  It looked just like the view outside the glass tunnel that lead into the reactor with the added bonus that this was a more elevated position and could take in a bigger vista than the tunnel.  The view was quite spectacular.

            "Beautiful isn't it?"  Reeve murmured suddenly beside him.

            "Very."

            "I think it's here because you can see the entrance to the submarine docks as well as the exhaust valves from here."  Reeve explained.  "I'm not entirely sure, the original plans don't say."

            "Not for the pleasurable view then?"  Reno asked turning slightly to see his friend's face bathed in a soft blue glow.

            "Doubtfully. Still it's nice to watch while I take breaks from playing with the computer systems. Relaxing."

            Reno turned to face him fully.  "It is nice.  You shouldn't work yourself so hard.  Lately I've been able to count the amount of circles beneath your eyes.  The reactor, the plans for the building renovations, all this extra stuff with Rufus. It's not healthy and it's beginning to show."

            Reeve sighed meeting Reno's gaze, if a little reluctant.  "I like keeping busy, you know that.  Besides all that work is my job. And Rufus needs help, even if he doesn't admit it.  He appreciates my help."

            "I know. I'm sure he does.  But I worry."  Reno admitted rather sheepishly.

            Reeve seemed surprised at this.  "Your worried about me?"

            "Of course I am. If you worked yourself to death I'd have nobody annoy anymore."  Reno grinned.

            It was a half-hearted grin, the joke being an attempt to free himself of an uncomfortable conversation.

            Of course he was worried about Reeve.  He didn't want to see him like he was.  Constantly weary, constantly pale and distracted.  While working too hard was part of Reeve's overall personality, Reno knew that everything now was way too much for even Reeve to handle.

            "Of course."  Reeve muttered.  "But I'm sure you'd find somebody else in no time."

            Reno let the grin slip. Apparently the only way he was going to get through to his friend was to take the uncomfortable route.

            "Maybe I don't want to.  After everything that's happened, maybe I just want to see you happy for a change.  It's not like you don't deserve it."

            "Working does make me happy."  Reeve said stubbornly.

            "You're not listening to me.  Happy as in something that isn't work.  Get a hobby, find a special someone, and take a vacation you know?"

            "A hobby?  I still go to the gym occasionally. Does that count?"

            "Barely."

            "I can't take a vacation.  At least not until all the work in Midgar is completed.  As for that special someone….I think I'll pass.  Besides what makes you think that all that stuff will make me happy?"

            "Because I've seen it."  Reno answered quietly.

            Digging into Reeve's life seemed to make his friend a little angry, especially after the reminder about what once was.

            "Yeah well, I think I've had my fill of relationships for the time being.  Love can kiss my un-vacationed work weary ass thanks Reno."

            Hearing Reeve phrase his thoughts that way made Reno come out of his melancholy mood.

            "Are you telling me to kiss your ass?"

            "No I said that love….wait."  Reeve stopped and stared at his companion.  "Did you….?"

            Reno had to stop and think a moment about what he had just said.  He had spoken without thinking again, the implications being that he had just told Reeve that he….

            "I think I did."  Reno responded just as astonished.  But had he meant it? Frankly he wouldn't have been surprised either way.  He was more shocked that he had admitted it.  To Reeve and to himself.  It had come out accidentally, but it had that ring of truth to it that he couldn't deny.

            He swallowed thickly.  "I love you."  He knew that.  In his own way he loved all his friends.  "I'm in-love with you."  The words were almost spoken to himself as if reassuring himself of this new realization.

            He hadn't even noticed the blood drain slowly from Reeve's face or the unexpected silence that soon followed.

            Reno looked around at his surroundings strangely. "Wow what an incredibly stupid time to say that."  His gaze returned to Reeve.  "Reeve? Shit are you okay..I didn't mean…I mean I…"

            Reeve swallowed and nodded.  "Oh I'm fine."  He lied.

            "Bad time for self realization I know. I guess I better go."  Reno turned to leave but Reeve grabbed him.

            "Reno. Don't, I just…why did you say that?"  It sounded almost like a plea.  Like Reeve was glad he had said it, but at the same time disheartened because of how it obviously made their not quite solid relationship even more difficult.

            "It's the truth.  I only just figured it out I guess.  Look I didn't want to make things more weird between us.  It just kind of popped out."

            Reeve nodded as if he understood.  "A couple of months ago would have been nicer."

            "I know.  Still friends?"  Reno asked tentatively.

            Reeve nodded slightly and drew Reno into a sudden embrace.  It took Reno a little while but he soon melted into the hug, thankful at least that he hadn't managed to totally screw up.

            Eventually they pulled apart slightly to allow themselves to see each other in the dim blue tinged light.

            Reno was about to pull apart fully before a strange urge stole over him.  The closeness to the other man, the months of pent up emotion he was suddenly able to put a name to seemed to gather inside his brain, clouding his senses.

            He leant his head forward slightly and touched his lips to Reeve's in a soft kiss.  He lingered on the kiss only momentarily before his brain kicked back into gear forcing him to realize what he was doing.

            Reeve looked as though he had taken a physical hit.  And the look was enough to make Reno break away from his friend completely and force his eyes to the ground.

            "Sorry."  He mumbled quickly before turning and hurrying from the room.

            _What was that about not screwing up completely?_

            Reeve stood perfectly still for a few moments, his thoughts and feelings tumbling around in his mind all begging to be heard and felt.  Through the haze one of his hands reached up, his fingertips touching his moist lips where the feel of the kiss still lingered.

                                                *****************************

            _No wonder Reno was so happy to get away from that woman._

            Tseng had definitely had enough with Scarlet duty, he was loathed to give it up again.  Giving the duty back to Reno meant that he was palming off an assignment onto one of his team.  A duty that Tseng wouldn't wish on his worst enemy let alone one of his own people.  Still Reno had this knack for putting up with the worse situations being a man far harder to annoy than most others and considering his charge was Scarlet, he was the most capable man for the job.

            Tseng on the other hand had thanked every deity he could think of once he had parted from her company and free to go back to his own room.

            First he thought he'd check on Reeve.  Tseng didn't think that the workaholic engineer would be back yet, not by a long shot, and so he was very surprised when he opened to connecting door between their rooms and found the man sitting by the window.  The room was dark, the bright lights of the city easily illuminating Reeve's face as he gazed out of the window with distracted interest.

            "I didn't think you'd be back yet."  Tseng commented shutting the door behind him and crossing to stand behind Reeve.

            He could see the other man clearly reflected in the glass of the window, his expression serious.

            "Less to do than I thought."  Reeve answered simply.  "I'll go in and double check tomorrow."

            Tseng nodded even though he was still unclear as to why Reeve was back already.  Normally Tseng would have thought Reeve would have triple checked the system before even thinking of returning to the hotel.  That was half the reason Tseng hadn't worried about leaving him to relieve Reno.  He had believed Reeve when he had said he would be there all night.  Sure it was already about three o'clock in the morning, but Tseng hadn't expected to see the other man till at least seven when he went over to the reactor to check on him.

            "Tired?"  Tseng asked feeling nosey.  After all, this was none of his business and normally he wouldn't ask, but there was something tickling the back of his mind that warned him to pay attention.

            "Yeah."  Reeve answered.

            "I wish you had called.  You're under my care, I would've come and escorted you back.  Or at least sent Reno if I had been unable to get away."

            At this Reeve let his eyes fall close and his head fall to his chest.  Tseng realized that this was just the reaction he had been waiting for.

            "I'm perfectly capable of finding my own way back to my hotel Tseng.  I don't need to be babysat."

            Tseng sighed and put a reassuring hand on Reeve's shoulder.  "I had hoped he wouldn't go to see you.  I shouldn't have told him where you were."

            Reeve didn't seem in the slightest bit surprised that Tseng had figured it out. The familiarity between the two men had grown somewhat in the past couple of months.

            "It's not your fault. Besides he didn't do anything bad.  Just confusing."

            Tseng sighed.  "Something he has great ability at doing. You're alright?"

            Reeve lifted his head and nodded.  "I just don't know what to do with him."

            "Don't do anything if you don't want to. It's your call and I'm sure he would respect any decision you made."

            Reeve craned his neck around to look at Tseng properly.  "You knew this was coming didn't you? Even though you knew we were friends again.  You knew that something would happen."

            "I did." Tseng affirmed.  "I've known Reno for many years and I've never seen him so….preoccupied with another person before.  He has trouble keeping things to himself especially with things he feels strongly about.  It was only a matter of time."

            Reeve turned back to the window and resumed watching the city.  "You could've told /me/."  He said wryly.

            Tseng took a few moments to answer.  "Would you have stopped it from happening if I had?"

            Reeve closed his mouth.

            Tseng simply nodded to himself and withdrew back to the door to his room.  

            "Goodnight Mr. Evans."

            "Night Tseng." 

                                                *********************************

            Reno turned over again trying to get comfortable in the bed.  It was a hopeless endeavor but he persisted anyhow.  Sleep would not come to him tonight, not until his mind had settled down and he figured that the only way that was going to happen was if he either took some sleeping potions or blew his brains out with his own sidearm. 

            He knew he could have handled things better at the reactor earlier had he been thinking clearly.  The problem was that he hadn't been thinking at all. No matter what had happened.  No matter everything he had been through, it seemed as if he kept coming back to the same thing.  

            Reeve.

            Everything he did.  Every conversation he had.  Everything seemed to end in the same way.  Him thinking about Reeve.  At least now he knew where to obsession stemmed from.

            _I love him.  I'm /in/ love with him._

Yeah well, no shit.  Had he been paying more attention to his thoughts lately he probably would have worked that out a long time before he had blurted it out to the man's face.  As it was he was pretty sure he was the last person to realize that little fact.  

            _Well, _he amended remembering the look of shock of Reeve's face, _The second last maybe._

            It was a debilitating feeling really.  Especially because he couldn't do anything about it.  Even if Reeve suffered from a major case of insanity and wanted him back, Reno doubted the wisdom in letting himself be taken back.  Sure many couples had revived their relationships after times of hardship.  But Reno doubted that any of these hardships normally included one of the two people going on a psychotic blood rage and trying to kill the other. At least not without heavy therapy anyway.

            As it was Reno imagined that Reeve was doubting the prudence in continuing their friendship let alone anything else.  And he sure didn't want to lose that.  All he needed to do was beat down his impulsive tendencies and be the man's friend.  He could handle that and it was far better than the alternative of never talking to the other man again.

            _I just need to see him again and tell him that it won't ever happen again.  That I was sorry that I made things more uncomfortable between us and that I truly didn't mean for that to happen.  Let him know that yes I do love him, but it won't change anything between us.  That I'll be his friend for as long as he wishes.  That I can be depended on without him having to worry about what I'm going to do next.  Whether I am going to try to kiss him or kill him or both.  That all I want is to be able to continue talking to and seeing him and that is all I really care about.  That that is all I've ever really cared about.  And I know that he'll understand, because he understands me._

Well it was a nice thought certainly.  But Reno stills held doubts.  Whether Reeve would believe him.  Whether Reeve should believe him.

            _Whether I can believe that myself._

***************

Notes: Holy crap that was loooong. But you'll have to expect that from most upcoming chapters. Do I really need to apologise? *giggles*

Well well well. Interesting ne?  The truth is that since I broke these two up I have had little to really focus on.  Reno is back sane and sound, and the other back plot is still in the teething process.  So instead of being able to write about two people in a relationship, I've had all the character's talking about the relationship that no longer exists.  While I thought it must be boring for all you readers not having much of a storyline to read about (eg an expansion on Kramer's Crap) I suddenly realized at the completion of this chapter, that the whole Reno/ Reeve thing IS the plot line for the fic thus far. After all this fic is essentially a romance is it not?  While we had the whole terrorist/Tariff thing in part one, essentially the story revolved around our two guys getting together and people surely liked that one.  And let's face it, a lot has happened by this point and while I will definitely continue with the back plot Kramer's Crap, I have finally stopped worrying about all the mushy love stuff and conversations the characters are having about the mushy love stuff.  That is what is happening.  Reno and Reeve have been through some heavy duty shit at the whim of my imagination and it is only necessary that it needs to be sorted out before I can get back to the other plots currently going.  Obviously they'll still be there, in fact I have a new angle to explore waiting for me in the next chapter that doesn't revolve around our fav duo, but of course everything in this fic is designed to strain the lads' relationship. And Kramer's Crap is still back in Midgar patiently waiting for a more in depth look. I will get to it.  The boys just need some solider ground first.

Sorry but you were warned that this was a romance 

_AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_All my stories can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar_

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie_

_Submissions still open for the Monsters Series._


	8. Overload

What You Do To Me

__

By Anime Fearie

****

Chapter 8

Overload

Reeve was late. The test was due to begin in a little under and hour and Reeve still hadn't left his hotel room. 

"You could have woken me sooner." Reeve grumbled to the man leaning up against the couch as he rushed around the room gathering his things.

"I believed you could use the rest." Tseng answered calmly. "Besides you told me last night that you had sorted everything out."

Reeve threw Tseng a look that told the other man to stop playing with him. Reeve knew that Tseng was aware of the real reason he had come back from the reactor early last night and it had nothing to do with the final preparations for the cannon. 

"Ever hear of the need for last minute adjustments?" Reeve asked sourly.

"Relax." The other man soothed. "Kattie told me that she was going in early to double check everything. You have no need to worry."

Said the Turk to the control-freak workaholic.

Reeve stopped on his way past the couch long enough to give the Turk his best glare, which was, on Reeve, about as intimidating as a mouse wielding a toothpick.

"Remember what I told you about yesterday? That if the computers cannot register the build-up of mako that they will drain the power?"

Tseng nodded.

"If they fail we need to override the system before that can happen. Do you know how many people have the clearance to override those computers? I'll tell you. Exactly three. The President, the head tech here in Junon and me."

Tseng rolled his eyes. He had been aware of this. 

"To run any system checks on the computer you need the override code to access the system. How is Kattie going to check anything without that code?"

Tseng didn't mention that Kattie had recruited the head tech this morning to help out while Reeve recovered his lack of sleep. All mentioning this would do would be to make Reeve find another point to argue and the pair would still accomplish nothing. Just by looking at Reeve he could almost feel the tense vibes radiating off him in waves. In reality Reeve needed a stiff drink and a couple of hours more sleep. Being something Reeve would never agree to, Tseng just nodded, and tried to be reassuring.

"Have faith Mr. Evans. The reactor will still be there when you arrive."

"Of course it will be! We would not be standing here talking to each other otherwise. We would instead be scattered across Junon harbor in ten thousand tiny little pieces along with the rest of Junon."

Reeve stomped off and continued to gather his things, announcing five minutes later that he was ready to leave.

Tseng knew the other man must be rushed. He was wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, not a suit.

*******************

"Sir, you're not dressed."

"Last time I checked I had pants on Kattie." Reeve remarked dryly throwing his briefcase down on top of a vacant console.

Needless to say, Reeve's mood hadn't improved on the ride over from the hotel. He was tense, still half asleep and annoyed with himself. Annoyed that he hadn't stayed and made triply sure of the computers capability last night. Annoyed that he didn't have the time to do so now. And annoyed at everyone for not taking the situation as seriously as he was.

"It was of course the first thing I noticed." Kattie returned picking up a radio off the bench beside her and fitting it to the waistband of Reeve's jeans while he was hunched over a console screen, immersed immediately in the reams of information scrolling down the screen.

"I've run no less than five systems tests since I got here this morning. Everything checks out, whatever you did last night seems to have fixed it."

Once the radio was fitted she reached around and fitted the small ear piece into his ear. The radio was designed specifically to allow the techs free movement and communication while scrambling around the reactor.

"Are you positive?" Reeve asked.

Kattie frowned and turned her eyes toward the screen Reeve was bent over. "Fairly certain. I mean we couldn't heat the reactor up too much this morning, we'll need all reserves we have for the actual test. But the computer is registering the extra power, everything seems to check out."

"See here…" Reeve began pointing toward the screen.

Soon the two were engrossed in technical details that Tseng chose not to even try and understand. Instead he wandered through the control room, his eyes scanning every person in every position. It was a reflex habit more than any real need to know. He noted that there were more personnel here than yesterday and he wasn't sure if that simple thing was more comforting or more distressing considering what Reeve told him yesterday concerning the reactor overload. Tseng wasn't a nervous man by nature. He felt more comfortable facing twenty armed guards than asleep in own bed some nights. But this reactor made him nervous. Something that he could not control and didn't understand.

Still considering his only other alternative location to be at this time, he would take the reactor and Reeve hands down over Scarlet in the throws of ecstasy in her creation.

With that in mind, Tseng reached into his pocket and took out his PHS. Really he should have checked up on Reno this morning and went over his plans for security for the day. Reno had the rather painful job of making sure that no outside influence would interfere with the test of the cannon. After all this would be a prime time for a terrorist group to poke it's head in and mess with Shinra's plans. One fault in the system, one bad defect and it would be bad press for Shinra. Not to mention the chance that it might endanger the entire city considering how much power they were playing with. Because of these threats Reno needed to coordinate the security around the cannon and the control room in the Shinra offices without any hiccups. Quite a task. He knew Reno could handle it, but he would have felt ten times better knowing Reno's course of action ahead of time. 

It was his own fault he hadn't gone to see the Turk. Tseng just basically hadn't wanted to. He didn't want himself to get angry at Reno for last night's episode. Although Reeve had assured him that it was nothing serious, Tseng also knew that it hadn't helped Reeve's stress levels. And with something this important that needed the engineer's full attention, Reno should have known better than to make it any worse.

Tseng dialed the number.

"Unless Junon is about to explode I can do without the interruption." Was the answering response.

"Busy?" Tseng guessed innocently.

"You have no idea Tseng. I'm beginning to think that most of these troopers don't even know their asses from their elbows. Scarlet seems to have an orgasm every time she looks at her cannon and Trent keeps fretting over the reactor's ability to cope with the energy. Boss if I have to do this for much longer I'm going to start shooting people."

"You'll cope." Tseng replied dryly. "Everything set?"

"Seems so. I'm about to make the final rounds now, but it looks good."

"Keep it up, not much longer."

With that Tseng hung up the PHS just in time to hear the warning light begin to flash above his head and all around the control room. It only lasted about five seconds but it was enough to make Tseng give a small slightly worried look to Reeve who had finished watching the computer screen once the lights had come on.

"Just a warning telling us that the control room topside is getting ready to fire the cannon. From here on in, the reactor should start building up the power." Reeve told Tseng in answer to the look. 

Already Tseng could hear the slight drone of the core begin to build from the center of the reactor. "And how long will that take?"

"About ten minutes. Another two to stabilize and only thirty seconds to send the energy up to the cannon." Reeve responded immediately, then, "Hypothetically of course. Something like this has never been done before."

"First times a charm." Kattie said enthusiastically,

"Isn't that supposed to be 'third times a charm'?" Tseng asked a little confused.

"Yeah, but it doesn't quite have the same optimistic ring about it. Especially since we are standing in a reactor powerful enough to blow Junon into the ocean."

"Point taken." Tseng returned wryly.

Tseng wandered over to a large viewing window more to stay out of the way of the personnel rather than any actual want to take in the view. These things made him nervous enough to not enjoy the otherwise beautiful view. He checked his watch. Three minutes. Seven more to go.

*

Reno was just wandering back from his rounds and into the command center as the last five minutes were ticking down on the countdown. After triple checking all securities details he had little else to do really. He might as well come up for the best view of the cannon firing its first shot. He had to admit, while he didn't exactly have to fascination for Scarlet's work, he just couldn't /not/ be impressed with the whole piece of massive weaponry. Much like the same time he'd driven Tseng's car. The Style III, Shinra Sleek. Jet black, with all the trimmings. The sports car for men with too much money and never enough time. First he'd been jittery about using it. In Midgar most people got away with not having a license. There really was no need. Rufus had one. Tseng didn't. And Reno sure as hell didn't. In fact Reno could count the amount of times he'd driven before that on one hand. So naturally getting into one of the most feared men in Midgar's slick car and taking it for a joyride was not how one stayed healthy. But, sitting behind the wheel, Reno just couldn't think logically. Sitting behind the controls of something that powerful was just too much. He knew Tseng'd kill him if in his inexperience he crashed it, but sensibility flew out the window about the same time as he saw his first hundred meters of clear asphalt. It was too impressive, even though terrifying, to be levelheaded and leave it alone. He guessed it was kind of the same with the cannon. A clear expanse of nothing to just let loose on and be in awe of the power. Terror at the prospects and or ramifications aside.

But first, he needed a cigarette.

Veering off to one side he went over to one of the many control stations and swiped a cigarette out of the open pack of a tech talking to his neighbor. 

"Hey!" The tech said when he noticed Reno reach down for the lighter.

"Relax Wiser, you'll live longer." Reno lit up and leaned over to replace the lighter. When he did, he noticed something odd that the tech didn't see from scowling at him. "Say Wiser, what's that flashing yellow light? Looks kinda urgent."

Wiser went to turn back to his monitor, "Ha, ha, Reno. Very-" The tech looked. Then his eyes widened. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!"

"That good huh?"

Wiser snatched up a phone by his console and dialed while talking. "The reactor is going into overload. Go get Scarlet."

For a moment Reno couldn't believe his ears. "The reactor?" The reactor that Reeve and Tseng were in right this minute. "Overloads are very bad things right. Like 'kaboom' kind of things right?"

"Yes Reno. Please, go and get Scarlet."

Reno did so, taking off across the room in a very big hurry.

*

When the second warning lights came on, Tseng didn't particularly take special notice. At least not till he looked over toward Reeve to see the man's face puzzled, looking up at a monitor above his head. Puzzled was still okay. At least he didn't look worried.

"Uh Reeve?" Kattie asked from her chair in front of a terminal just off the Reeve's left.

"I can see Kat. There's got to be a mistake."

Wandering back over to Reeve he looked up at the screen as well, but he could make nothing of the streams of numbers and abbreviations. A phone rang over at Kattie's console. She listened for a few moments before slamming it down. "Really Reeve."

"I still say there's a mistake."

"Mistake or no, the reactor thinks it's true enough."

The harsh oath muttered under Reeve's breath made Tseng clench his jaw. "Problem?"

Reeve looked away from the screen and motioned for Tseng to come with him at a fast jog. "Reactor computers are saying that we're starting to go above capacity. I know we aren't. It hasn't been long enough. C'mon I may need you for something."

The got to the core room and Reeve stopped in front of the small viewing window. The glow was bright, the humming tolerable. Nothing like yesterday. After that he checked the gauges on the nearby panel.

"I knew we weren't going over. I'll bet we haven't reached eighty percent yet." Reeve stopped for a moment, hand pressed up against his ear, apparently listening to something over his radio. "No Kattie, don't tell them to stop. I can fix this."

"What does that mean?"

Reeve led them over to the other end of the catwalk where he pulled a section of the railing away. "It basically means that the computers will try to reserve the procedure automatically, no matter what. It'll blow all the release valves and exhaust the buildup believing the reactor is at a hundred plus percent. Right now I'd estimate it at about seventy eight."

"And that's a bad thing." Tseng guessed. "I thought the computers had been repaired."

Reeve looked at Tseng's face and read his non comprehension. "It's a long story. Let's just say that last night I fixed it with a threshold of a hundred and one percent. It's never had an exact threshold before, programmed to just simply shut down and not register anything above seventy. When Kattie reset the system this morning, the threshold reset itself to seventy instead. Least that's what I'm assuming happened." 

No matter the idle chatter, Reeve was moving fast, he led the two of them down a ladder and onto a lower catwalk. They took up the jog again.

"You still haven't explained the bad thing. If the reactor drains the energy at least it will give you a chance to fix it."

Reeve wore a look that told Tseng his patience was wearing thin. But Tseng couldn't help it. He hated not knowing things, not matter how stressed Reeve looked.

"It's still a lot of energy. It doesn't just simply dissolve into the sea. The failsafe would save the city true under normal circumstances, but the reactor runs the risk of a breach. Kind of a shockwave from the valves outside. However, at the moment, we have an open connection with the surface for the cannon and the energy will escape any way possible. Some may go to the cannon, and nicely blow it up or not so nicely a piece of the city. We could lose part of Junon, not to mention flood the reactor. And to tell truth, considering where we are, I'm not keen on either happening," Reeve checked his watch, "in two minutes time."

"I see. So what is it you are going to do?"

They stopped at the end of the catwalk and Reeve bent to look over the rail-less edge. "I'm going to cut the power to the failsafe and let it overload."

Tseng supposed that most other people might bug out at the news. As it was he was tempted to start slapping the other man around a bit to make sure Reeve wasn't as insane as he sounded. But Tseng being Tseng only offered up a calm, "Oh?"

Reeve was looking down at something below him. After a few more moments he looked Tseng over with a critical eye. "Just how strong are you?"

"Why?"

"Could you say, hold my weight for about a minute?"

Tseng answered Reeve's look with a none too happy one. "Perhaps." Again, "Why?"

"No time for more explanations. Just get ready."

By the time Reeve had managed to slither over the side of the catwalk, another minute had already passed. As he was now, dangling upside down from a catwalk, he found it hard not to want another minute just to get his chance to calm down and steady his breathing. This was not the sort of work a department head should be doing. This was not the sort of work he should be doing regardless. He wasn't particularly ecstatic about heights either.

By twisting slightly he was able to bring himself around to an upside down view of the panel he wanted. He had just pried the cover off, when Kattie's voice sounded in his ear.

"Reeve, we have less than a minute here."

"Almost there."

Letting the panel drop, he reached into the small space to pull out several gray cords. Taking the pocket knife he pilfered from Tseng he cut through all but two of the wires.

"Thirty seconds. You might want to hang onto something."

Reeve motioned for Tseng to start dragging him up. It was slow going. He and Tseng just managed to drag his body onto the catwalk where they both lay panting for a few seconds before the reactor's noise rose to a screech. The catwalk began to move slightly underneath them causing them to have to cling to the grating of the catwalk. But the shaking was only momentary before an all encompassing whoosh took the noise away. The emergency lights flashed off and the reactor went quiet.

Shaking his head in pure relief, Reeve put his head in his hands and started chuckling. In a few moments, Tseng's though more subdued voice joined in.

****

Elena yawned as she shucked her jacket on her floor and walked into the kitchen. What she really wanted was a nice cold glass of milk and her bed. Rude had unmercifully been dragging her around the slums chasing this and that. The day before they had spent doing the exact same thing on the Plates. She was sore, and she was tired, and she yet had to report to Reno.

So as she was pouring her milk, she dialed Reno's PHS and cradled the phone between her head and shoulder. It took him almost eight rings to pick it up, and when he did she could distinctly hear music and people in the background. She rolled her eyes, figures. Here she was in pain and exhausted, and Reno was at a party.

"If you're ringing about that debt, tell Rick I'll pay him back on Friday."

"Reno, it's Elena."

"Oh heya El. How're things in sunny Midgar?"

"Dandy." She replied dryly. "I found that stuff you wanted on Nibleheim."

As Elena carried her glass over to the sofa and sat down to tug off her boots, she heard the noise around Reno soften. He must've moved out of the room. "Alright shoot."

"Well in the last forty years or so there've only been three people of any note from Nibleheim. An ex-tech from Palmer's department. Two people from there that have joined Shinra. One became a reactor worker. The other a Soldier recruit."

"Oh? What's the recruit's last name?"

"Strife, if you can believe that. He didn't make Solider, so joined as a trooper in Junon blah blah blah." She finished with one boot and dumped it on the floor. "You know, if I knew what I was looking for, I might be able to find out more."

Reno ignored the last statement. "That's it?"

"Apart from people that more fall under you're extended stays category. Professor Hojo spends a deal of time out there. Two people of some renown have gone missing out there plus a few others."

"Who are the two?"

"Ah General Sephiroth and Vincent Valentine, then Leader of the Turks. A few other members of Solider over the years, a few troopers-"

"And a partridge in a pear tree." Reno finished sarcastically. He sounded bright though. "Thanks El, you've done well."

"Oh and by the way, Rude wants to talk to you. Some trouble brewing with a new terrorist group or something. He wants to know if you know anyone-"

"Yeah, I know the drill. Tell him I'll call him tomorrow about it."

*

Theoretically, the easy part of his next task would be to tell Reeve what it was that he had found out. The tricky part, getting a chance alone with him without Tseng listening in. Unfortunately, he had the perfect reason to want to have a private word with Reeve that would make Tseng give him the needed space. He no longer saw that as the tricky part. No. The far trickier part was going to be convincing Reeve to want to have a private word with him. 

With a deep sigh and a backward look toward his charge, drunk with victory and praise not to mention a shit load of martini's, Reno ambled over to where Tseng, Reeve and Kattie were huddled at one of the tables. Apparently drilling the poor Junon head tech on what they needed to repair in the reactor. Reno winced at the thought. Tseng had filled him in on what had nearly gone wrong in the reactor this morning and he nearly got sick at the thought. But he pushed on through it and leant over the table as casually as he could and mustered up one of his usual half smiles.

"Reno?" Tseng asked looking up at him. "Where is your charge?"

"Never fear boss, she's protected by the gods of supreme fucking luck and stupid drunken admiring men." He moved his eyes over to Reeve and cocked his head to the side slightly. "Word with you?"

Reeve took his time, looking at Reno, before nodding and getting up. He began leading the way through the throng of people toward the bar. Reno was about to follow him when Tseng grabbed his arm. Kattie was too busy trying to catch the tech who was taking the chance of the interruption to slip away. No one was paying attention to them. 

"Reno," Tseng began warningly.

Reno shook him off a might irritably. "I'll be a good boy Tseng." He should have known Tseng would notice something was off. "I owe the man a drink is all."

Not looking all that sure, Tseng let him go.

Reno found Reeve, elbows on the bar, trying to get the barman's attention. Reno came up beside him and copied his pose. A sharp whistle got the barman's attention quickly enough.

"Beer, Junon brand, for my friend here. I'll have a whiskey, no ice."

Reeve barely suppressed an irritated sigh. "Aren't you on duty?"

Reno pretended to be thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah you're right." To the bartender, "You better put ice in it after all."

Reeve didn't laugh. "Look Reno-"

He could guess what Reeve was about to say, and after the day he imagined the other man had had, he wasn't sure if he truly felt like talking to him about it right now.

Reno interrupted him. "I found out who are missing friend is."

Reeve stopped, and turned a surprised look upon Reno. "Nibleheim?"

"Got it in one. Can't believe I didn't remember it myself actually. Not that I was around when it happened mind you. Actually I wouldn't have even been born. Anyway, our man is an ex-Turk by the name of Vincent Valentine. Disappeared in Nibleheim."

"I've never heard of him."

"Not surprising," Reno commented taking a sip from his newly arrived drink. "Disappeared about thirty years ago. Most think he's dead of course."

He really didn't look impressed now. "Are you trying to tell me that the only clue I've got off someone turned out to lead me to a dead man? Reno, I would think that Tseng must've been talking about someone else. Someone alive perhaps?"

Reno replaced his drink on the countertop. "Look, the only place Tseng has been lately is Nibleheim. And Vincent was, well, Tseng's teacher. Don't ask me why, but I know he's the right one. He's probably the only man who's ever had any sway with Tseng in the company. Least as far as friend stuff goes. You asked me to find who it was, and Valentine is the best I can offer you."

"Unless of course this person is in Midgar. You know, you mightn't know Tseng as well as you think."

"I never presumed to." Reno shrugged. "Look you're the one with the brains, the clue was for you."

"Okay, suppose for a moment you're right. How could a dead person induce Tseng to stop an investigation?" Reeve chewed on the question for a moment, staring into his drink. Finally he muttered, "'I recently saw an old friend of mine who reminded me that sometimes it is simply better to not get too strongly involved in things better left alone.'" Reeve suddenly looked up, "Of course if the friend was missing or dead for sticking his nose into something he shouldn't have been, that would be advice enough to make him drop it."

"Woah there. Do you realize what you're suggesting? This is our employer you're talking about here."

Reeve looked at him so sharply that he suddenly realized that he had just given the other man precisely the reaction he had been after. 

"Oh? And what makes you think I was suggesting that this man had been sticking his nose into Shinra's doings? He was a Turk, his disappearance could have happened for a wide number of reasons. Why was you're first assumption that Shinra or someone in Shinra had anything to do with his being missing? After all, why would a company disappear one of it's own workers?"

"Don't look so smug," Reno grumbled, "it doesn't suit you. You need me to do anything else?"

"Not at the moment. But thanks for getting what you could."

"No problem." Their discussion concluded, Reeve was just about to leave when Reno's mouth opened by it's own violation. "There's something else."

Reeve carefully kept his face blank. "Important?"

"Well kind of." Remembering his earlier decision, Reno added, "but nothing world endangering."

"Okay."

Reeve turned his back then and began walking away.

****

All he needed was some air. And for once, he didn't care what might happen because of that. 

No doubt Tseng would go off at him.

No doubt Scarlet would inform Rufus that Reeve had refused to stay at a compulsory company function. 

And, no doubt, Reno would think that Reeve hated him.

Reeve didn't hate him. But he was very confused about it all. 

His mind in a haze of swirling thoughts, wandering through Junon without clear intention, he shouldn't have been surprised at where he ended up. And he wasn't really at that. A rapid succession of eye blinking followed by an opened mouthed scan of the area before finally a resigned sigh.

"You should watch where you're walking." He berated himself quietly.

Thornton Street hadn't changed much in the time he had been away. Of course it wasn't so much a street anymore with Junon's ever-expanding developments. Now it was more an alley behind an alley on the very bottom level of the Junon terrace. No stars, no sky. Just an inky blackness that most probably didn't dissipate with daytime and could only get blacker in the night. But the old bar was still there all the same. With the same pink and yellow neon lights telling you the name and the one working slightly blue colored street lamp on the corner. The crowds looked about the same too. Nobody ever came here because they were stand-up citizens of the city. No heavy crime lords necessarily, more those whose drinking required dank darkness to reflect their moods. Or those who were looking for a unique form of entertainment. 

With a perverse twist to his mouth, Reeve crossed the alley and headed toward the bar. He wasn't looking for said entertainment himself. He couldn't understand why he was even here or why he was going to enter the bar. To satisfy some weird curiosity? To try and make sense of misbegotten youth? Or was he simply more fucked up than he had ever realized? He would rather not know the answer to that question. But it didn't make him change his trajectory either.

As he set foot on the sidewalk he became aware of several pairs of eyes following him. He didn't have to wonder why. Here he was, a man in an expensive looking suit, clean looking, obviously on the better side of well-to-do and wandering in a particularly seedy part of Junon's lower sections. Either people were looking at him in shock, looking to rob him, or as he soon noticed, looking hopeful. 

Of the latter, there were no less than three woman and two boys warming the sidewalk adjacent to the bar. All of them had their eyes on him as though there was nothing else in the entire world. He guessed he looked a lot richer than a lot of their usual clientele that was for sure. And after all, he was in a perfect position to know. The one standing closest was a boy of about fourteen with bright blond hair and less than bright blue eyes. His features looked distressingly a lot like Reno's actually. Pale skin, lean frame, insolent stance. Enough to make Reeve stop and take a second look. The boy of course read into this the wrong way, sauntering up to him with an obviously appreciative glance that was also as obviously faked for the show. He stopped by Reeve, smiled ever so slightly and cocked his head to the side. 

"Lookin' for somefin' in particular, good Sir? Or d'ya think you mighta found it?"

Reeve looked at the boy with a deadpan expression. He was so young. His appearance was well kept though considering. He smiled like Reno did too. "Actually there is something you might be able to do for me." He responded eventually. "What's your name?"

The boy's grin grew wider, probably imagining how much money he could suck out of a loaded man like this. Reeve's dead expression didn't seem to phase him in the least either.

"Name's Drew. Want to talk money, or ya wanna skip that shit and talk later? All depends on whatcha want."

Reeve nodded as if he thought that sounded reasonable before voicing his own thoughts. "I have a deal for you. I'm going to give you a hundred gil for you to take the night off."

The boy raised an eyebrow and whistled through his teeth. "A whole night? Guess a hundred ought to cover it though. You wanna go somewhere else, that it?"

Reeve shook his head. "No. I want you to go home. By yourself. And I want you to stay there for the entire night. Do we have a deal?"

Drew opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally settling on, "I don't get it."

"Didn't think you would." Reeve muttered. He hadn't really thought Drew would know what any sort of kindness might mean, even if he was paid a hundred gil to help him understand. "You understand what I'm asking though don't you?"

"Yeah," Drew answered defensively, "I just don't get why. Look, I'm pretty sure I can do ya a heaps more pleasurable service than goin' home."

Reeve dug the intended note out of his pocket and stuffed in into Drew's hand. "No, you wouldn't." Reeve answered wearily. 

Once Drew had the note, Reeve turned and headed once more into the bar proper. He didn't want to wait and see whether Drew took his advice or not.

Rarely had Reeve ever bothered to visit the bar. Usually if he tried he was chased out and told to stay out. Not that that kept him from trying. It hadn't really kept any of the boys from trying no matter what they incurred from it. It was another story for the women though. Here and there they hung off their next likely punter with seductive expressions and cool eyes. Reeve made sure he stayed well clear considering all the attention he had managed to draw to himself on the street earlier. 

Instead he found a vacant table in an inconspicuous corner of the otherwise crowded room and signaled to a nearby waitress to bring him a drink. He didn't care what. He had yet to understand at all why he was even still here.

When his drink came he had already got out his wallet to pay for it. Not being a local, nor being in a particularly trustworthy environment, they wouldn't probably let him settle his debt with them later. But when he went to hand over the gil, the woman waved it away.

"Already been paid for." She explained shortly, dumping a beer glass on the table in front of him.

Reeve's brows drew together in confusion as he looked up into a pair of eyes that looked just as washed out as many of the other women around the bar. "Who?"

Steadily gazing at the women, he didn't notice the other man's presence till he pulled out a chair at the table and sat himself down in it. The woman walked away without another word and left the two men to each other's company. Reeve went to offer some cold, thanks but no thanks to the man when something familiar struck him when the other man lifted his eyes to Reeve. Dark eyes met his and suddenly he knew. Though his hair was a little whiter than he remembered and there were a few more wrinkles on the sun bronzed skin Reeve would have recognized him anywhere.

"Eason."

Eason smiled, but it was a tired kind of smile. "Good to know you haven't forgotten me entirely."

Reeve wanted to smile for his old guardian, but he found that he couldn't. "Please tell me you're not down here for the sights."

Eason sat back in his chair and rubbed the side of his face. "Hardly."

"You've been following me?"

He nodded. "Much as I can. You keep dangerous company nowadays."

"Why?"

Eason sighed. Again he sounded so weary. "Your father wants to see you. I was only meant to pass on the message." Here Eason gestured around with a vague hand at the bar, "But I guess I was a little too curious to approach you outright."

"You're faith in me is astonishing." Reeve commented sourly.

Eason didn't seem in the least worried about the comment. "Reeve, what are you doing here?"

Reeve shook his head and looked down at his beer. "I don't know. I guess I was in a mood after…I didn't come here consciously. And I didn't intend anything Eason. I guess the place just suited my disconsolate mood."

"Figured as much when you went and sat down by yourself. Didn't know what was what when I saw you talking to that kid outside though."

Reeve snorted, half amused, half bitter. He almost felt tempted to tell Eason that there were at least two people back at the hotel he was staying at that would most likely accommodate any and all urges he had in that regard without knowing that he was being too egotistical about it. But he doubted Eason would understand any of it. About Reno or about why he gave Drew that money. Especially when he wasn't entirely sure on it all himself.

"You don't really believe that do you?"

Eason didn't seem to need to think this over any. "Nah, not really. But I couldn't help the thought you understand."

Reeve supposed he could. "It's good to see you Eason."

Eason looked him in the eye again, this time offering a much warmer smile. "And I you Reeve. It's been far too long."

"You said my father wanted to see me? Don't suppose you could tell him you never managed to catch up to me could you?"

"I doubt it. He was very specific. He wants you there for dinner tomorrow night. Something important is on his mind."

"Don't suppose the old fart is dying is he?"

Eason gave him such a shocked expression that Reeve had to wonder himself at the question. Not what he said, Eason knew enough to know exactly how thin the father and son relationship was, but rather how he'd said it.

"I see the Shinra have been an interesting influence on the quiet young man I used to know."

Reeve closed his eyes and smiled at that. More amused than anything. True, that hadn't been a very 'Reeve' comment. He knew exactly whose influence that had come from.

"Something you find amusing?"

"Sorry," Reeve apologized, wiping the smile from his face, "I was only joking."

"Well, I doubt he's dying. But he wants to see you."

"Okay. I'll be there."

"Don't look so sullen. It won't be that bad."

Reeve just gave Eason a look at that comment to which Eason nodded slightly in understanding. "Look, I want to catch up with you to. But I can think of ten better places other than this to talk."

"I couldn't agree more."

As the two left the bar, Reeve looked back at the sidewalk beside the bar as they walked away. He was hardly surprised, but very saddened to see Drew still there talking to a man who was swaying slightly on his feet. 

Reeve looked away very quickly.

******

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Notes: okay, so I wanted to add a Rufus part to this chapter, but it got too long as it was, not to mention I noticed how long it's been since I updated. Hopefully, I'll get more of that in next chapter, the one after at the very latest. Yes, Rufie fans, I've heard your calls and I understand. However, this is not a primarily Rufus orientated fic. If you want one of those read "Do What You Will". However, Rufus does have a larger part to play in this one, but it'll take some time to get to. Just bear with me, that's all I'm asking. 

Now, how was that for the rest of you huh? A lot of things in this chapter were added last minute to appease the gods of plot, because basically this whole Junon trip is only designed as a side plot. Like the Maggie kidnapping, the Caryla plot and so on. Only this time, this one is merely there to give Reeve's character a bit more. You have to admit, the first two were primarily Reno ones so now I have one part left to fit Reeve, Tseng and Rufus into. So I'm attempting to give that god-awful Reeve backstory some credit. What do you guys think of that anyway? The second reason for Junon was to try and sort out the base for Reeve and Reno's new friendship. Well, you'll see what I mean by that next chapter ;)

Stay tuned

AF

Btw, please review. I've been putting this plea on a few of my stories now, but for Monsters, this is an especially big plea. I am hoping that there is more than two people still reading. Not that I have a problem writing for only two, but it's a big difference on how many people I did think were following. If I know I'm being waited on it gives me a good kick up the ass to write quicker, *sly grin* honest!

anime_fearie@excite.com

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All stories can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar

http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie

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Submissions for Monsters fics and art open. New quiz for the series. And don't forget to check out the rules for the new Comp!


	9. Employment Oppertunities

What You Do To Me

_By AF_

**Chapter 9**

Employment Opportunities

            Reeve had a problem.  Not only did he not want to attend his father's dinner, it also seemed that he would have to take Tseng along with him. Sure he'd consider Tseng a friend, but there were just some things that were best left secret.  Even to friends.  It wasn't as if Reeve and his father had ever come to blows or anything drastic like that, but enough had been said over the past few years to make both father and son bitter toward each other.

            In Reeve's case it was the knowledge that he had never lived up to the built up image his father believed he should be.  

            In his father's case, it was because he was a pressuring idealist who seemed to think his only fault was never having a chance to have another son.  A better one.

            The easy thing to do would be to refuse the invitation.  After all there was nothing Reeve could think of that told him it was important to be there.  He and his father had not even spoken in over six years.  More than likely his father found out he was in Junon and had envisioned a night of pestering his only son for his own immense pleasure.  

            Suddenly he didn't feel so bad about taking a Turk with him.

            Unfortunately he still felt bad about taking Tseng.

            It was still personal stuff, and still wasn't a good enough reason to subject Tseng to the torture of meeting his family.

            Reeve stared at the eggs on his plate blankly before setting down his fork and pushing the plate back. He wasn't very hungry anymore.

            Tseng raised an eyebrow at him from over the paper he was reading across the other side of the table. 

            "Something wrong Mr. Evans?"

            It was weird enough that Tseng felt the need to sit by him every morning while he ate breakfast.  He definitely didn't need to have to deal with Tseng's weird ability to seemingly read his mind as well.  Still it was a subject that would have come up sooner or later.

            "We can't go back to Midgar today."

            All he got in reply was the other eyebrow joining the first.

            "I need to go somewhere tonight." Reeve took a deep breath,  "I also have another favor to ask."

            "Mr. Evans I cannot let you wander around by yourself again tonight. If something were to happen…"

            "I know.  I'm not in any danger Tseng."

            Tseng went back to reading his paper, the gesture somewhat dismissive. "Shinra rules."

            "It's kind of personal."  Reeve admitted.

            "I understand.  While I respect your privacy Mr. Evans I still cannot allow that.  I wouldn't worry too much, whatever it is, I can be discreet if needs be."

            Quickly understanding where this conversation was going Reeve shook his head. "It's nothing like that."  Reeve replied quickly.  "I have to…I've been invited to..my father wants to see me."  He finished quickly.

            Alarmingly Tseng didn't seem all that surprised. "Rules."  Tseng repeated.

            Well, there went that idea.  There was always another, Reeve just wasn't sure if he wanted to take it.

            "Can Reno come with me instead?"  Seeing the look on Tseng's face he quickly followed on, "Nothing personal Tseng really.  It's just, it can get pretty awkward.  I'd prefer it if I didn't have to put you through that."

            "But you don't mind subjecting it to Reno?  Well, that I can understand."  A small smile here, "But I shouldn't think seeing your father could be all that disturbing.  You are forgetting who I am Mr. Evans.  I'm not easily distressed."

            Now it was Reeve's turn to smile.  "Afraid of having to deal with Scarlet that much eh?"

            This earned him a dirty look. 

            "The day that is false is the day that either she or I are dead. Still, if you are insistent on not wanting me to go with you I will concede."

            "Thank you Tseng.  I guess it's just because…"

            "No explanation is necessary." Tseng interrupted, "I understand. A private life doesn't seem so private once everybody knows about it.  Reno would be more familiar in such matters."

            Reeve felt a small blush creep up onto his cheeks at Tseng's wording, but it was correct.  He wouldn't feel quite as awkward going there with Reno rather than Tseng.  Reno already knew so much about him, it made it much easier.  Besides it was time the two had a talk.

********

            "Look, I know I can say that I am sorry again.  But I'm thinking it would be as stupid sounding as the first time."

            Reeve tapped the steering column of the rental car and looked up at the man that was sitting in the seat next to him.

            "You didn't apologize the first time."  Reeve reminded patiently.

            "I didn't? I meant to." Reno screwed his face up and looked down at his feet.  "Maybe I should just keep saying sorry till you get sick of me and shoot me."

            Reeve just watched Reno calmly.  Obviously the other man had agonized over this for some time.  A small sadistic part of Reeve's mind was actually glad.  Reno deserved some of the same pain that had plagued Reeve for months previously.  Why should he be the only one to go through all that shit? Shit that Reno was actually responsible for.  Seeing his friend now going through the same thing, Reeve was torn between comforting the poor guy and letting him stew for a while longer.  Instead he sat there irresolute, but not letting it bother him too much.

            _I guess that means the first part of me won out._

            "I don't own a gun."

            "You can use mine."  Reno offered, the faintest hint of a half smile creeping up onto his face.

            Obviously Reno thought that he was joking.  Obviously he thought that he could just breeze in here, make up and breeze back out of trouble again.  After all, hadn't Reeve already done that before?  Well this time it was going to be different.

            "Excruciating isn't it?"  He asked in the same, calm casual tone of voice.

            "What is?"

            "Knowing that you love someone, not knowing whether they love you back, or even care about you anymore.   Wondering whether you can even be around that person again without the other person telling you to go away and leave them alone.  Afraid that you might not even be able to /talk/ to that other person again without wondering whether they abhor you for it.  For your own feelings."

            Reno blinked at Reeve in surprise. Naturally this had not been what he had been expecting.  Still, his expression told Reeve that his comments weren't merely spoken for shock value.  Reno understood, he knew what Reeve was talking about and he knew that Reeve had gone through it himself.

            "Yeah, it is. And I suppose I deserved that."  He replied sullenly.

            Reeve's resolve wavered at the saddened look.  When he had felt that way, Reno had been sick.  

            _It isn't fair that I do this to him.  I have no good excuse._

            Reeve rubbed a hand over his tired eyes and sighed heavily.  "No you didn't.  I'm sorry.  I know it isn't the same."

            "No," Reno said quickly, "I do deserve it.  I remember.  I didn't want you to say it back then because I thought it made it harder for both of us.  I didn't want to hear then, I just wanted to get away from everything that made me feel.  It isn't an excuse, more like the rational of a deranged lunatic who thinks that warm feelings are his greatest enemy."

            "You obviously don't think that now."

            "To be honest, I hadn't thought about it at all.  And remembering just caused more pain."  Reno leant against the back wall and raised his eyes to meet Reeve.  "But I hate not knowing like you said.  Now that I went ahead and made things more uncomfortable between us, I want to know what you're thinking.  Will you hate me?  Will you never talk to me again?  Do you want me to leave you alone?"

            "I don't hate you Reno.  After everything I doubt something like this is going to change that.  You just confused me."

            "That certainly makes two of us." Reno muttered. Then, "Wait, what are you confused about?"

            Reeve leant back in his chair and regarded Reno with a tentative look.  "How to react I guess.  Times passed, I would have liked to hear you say what you did the other night.  And I'm not sure if I want the temptation."

            "Pardon? Temptation?" Reno questioned confused.  

            "Of knowing how you feel, remembering old times and perhaps wanting them back.  Tell me something, if you had the chance to make things the way they were between us, would you take it?"

            "My head tells me no.  Maybe I'm not to be trusted again.  My heart…." Reno swallowed thickly, "Yes."

            Reeve nodded as if he had expected such an answer.  "Me too.  Therein lies my problem.  I know that I shouldn't.  The past has taught me a valuable lesson regarding relationships and it all comes down to one simple thing."

            "That second chances are what it is all about?"  Reno asked hopefully, severely hoping that Reeve saw the half joke.

            "No.  The simple thing is: Don't fucking bother."

            This statement seemed to bother Reno a great deal. "You can't mean that.  Look I'm a bastard okay, but that doesn't mean that everyone in the world is a bastard. Actually there are about three thousand bastards out there that are better than me. Ask anyone!"

            Reeve let out an amused snort, "I think you are missing my point.  I know,  I think, what you are trying to say.  What /I/ am saying is that if you listen to your head whenever such a situation might arise, I think we can forego any uncomfortable situations."

            Reno smiled in understanding.  "So if you try to tie me up, strip me and try to take advantage of my helpless situation, a firm 'no' is in order?"

            Reeve couldn't help but smile a little at that one.  "Something like that."

            "Is that something that might happen?"  Reno asked almost hopefully, "I mean, perhaps I need to work up to it a bit.  You should try something a little subtler first, just to prepare me."

            "Reno…"

            Reno continued in a far more subdued tone. "I mean I've never leant to trust what my head tells me what to do.  It's a hard thing, to go against my own usual way of thinking ya know?"

            "Finished?"

            Reno smiled once more before his face turned a little more serious.  "Can I ask you a question?"

            "Does it have anything to do with helpless situations?"

            "Surprisingly no.  I just want to know why you bother with me.  I've done and said enough things to make you want to kill me three times over, yet you stay friends with me.  Why?"

            It was nothing that Reeve hadn't thought about before and he was surprised that it had taken Reno this long to ask.

            "Do you remember what you told me after our reunion in the elevator that night.  That you tried to get rid of me not only from you, but from your thoughts, but you couldn't? That finally your mind just accepted the fact and then had to work out a way for you to deal with it?" 

            "I remember."

            "I guess it's kind of the same thing.  I know I shouldn't be around you.  But I can't not be either, no matter what I think I really want."

            Again this was definitely something Reno could relate to.

He looked out of the windscreen at the large stone house sitting in front of them.  Reno had impressed from the moment they had turned off the main road and up onto the higher planes surrounding upper Junon.  It was a little known fact by most that entrance to the city was not confined to the elevator that led up from the township that Junon city was built over.  Most people that lived in Junon city actually came in via a road that lead in from the planes straight into the city.  The road was heavily guarded though and most wandering travelers didn't seem to know of its existence.  The area just outside Junon was actually used as a housing settlement for the wealthy.  The President had his own out-of-Midgar residence here, not to mention the mayor's house and a few other executives from the Shinra offices in Junon as well as a few of the well-off businessmen from the city.  Not surprising really that they had ended up here after Reno had found out what he was to be doing tonight.  He was surprised however, when they turned off the entrance road and went up the mile long driveway that lead to one of the most impressive houses on the lot.  

A three story affair with immaculate gardens and a fountain.  Reno mused that the entire thing was probably bigger than Junon's underwater reactor.  

Reeve didn't bother looking the place over and was still focusing on their previous discussion.  And why would he be checking the place out with the same wide-eyed awe that Reno was?  Reeve grew up here.

"Do you understand?"

Reno bought his attention back to Reeve and smiled slightly.

"Only too well.  Are we okay?"

"I think so."  Reeve said grabbing his jacket off the backseat and opening his door.

Reno got out of the car and met Reeve in front of the car as the other man was putting on his jacket.  Reno looked over his friend's suit appreciatively.  Dark gray and excessively expensive.  It was definitely not something Reeve had worn to work.  He wouldn't have been surprised if Reeve had gone out and bought the suit today.  Without needing to be told, Reno could tell how important tonight seemed to be to Reeve.  For one thing he looked as nervous as hell.  Actually if the hadn't been coming here tonight Reno doubted that Reeve might have forgiven and forgotten so easily where he, Reno, was concerned.  It was entirely possible that it had only happened because the other man had more things on his mind than his partially insane ex-boyfriend trying to make a dick of himself.

"Well you look utterly likable."  Reno said perhaps a tad too gamely considering the circumstances.  "Been raiding Rufus' wardrobe?"

Reeve gave him a sour look and absently brushed a strand of lint from his sleeve.  "My father is….picky. I don't want to give him any reason to start in about something.  Besides I can afford it."

"And you want him to know that."  Reno guessed.  

He was making light of what Reeve was trying to tell him, but he still found himself, for maybe the first time since becoming a Turk, tightening his tie and tucking his shirt in.  Even the sunglasses went into a side pocket in his jacket as he attempted to straighten his hair a little.

Reeve noticed all this as they walked toward the main doors and he smiled in response, the tension lines around his eyes smoothing a little.

"Don't look at me like that."  Reno told him, "I'm making an effort okay."

"You're my bodyguard remember?  You don't have to make an impression."

Reno stopped tugging at his hair and sighed.  Reeve was right, it wasn't like he was going to meet the parents or anything.  He was just there doing his job for Shinra.

_Right?_

After Reeve rang the bell the duo were greeted by a tall man with long graying hair and a neat black suit. Despite the gray hair, he looked youngish.  Maybe ten years older than himself, but not near old enough to be going completely gray yet.  Reno had never seen the man before obviously but although he answered the door, he didn't seem to be any type of butler or house servant.  

_Too aware of his surroundings, _Reno decided.

His theory was proved not two minutes later.

"Eason."  Reeve greeted warmly.

Reno recognized the name almost immediately.  Eason Leff, Reeve's guardian when he was younger.  This was the man who had looked after him as best he could in the darker years of Reeve's youth and had somehow gotten the man through it all alive.  Reno almost felt like hugging this stranger.

Reeve and Eason shared a friendly handshake before Eason's eyes turned curiously toward Reno who was standing beside, but slightly behind Reeve on the front stoop.  

"Oh Eason, this is Reno.  Shinra seems to think we need bodyguards these days."  Reeve told him almost apologetically.

Reno nodded slightly, respectfully toward Eason as was proper.  He had decided as soon as he had gotten out of the car that he would be as professional as he could on this particular mission.  If Reeve wanted to make a good impression on his father, the least Reno could do was act as he was supposed to.

"A Turk." It was not a question.  Eason seemed to linger on Reno for a second before turning and allowing the two to enter.

If Reno had been impressed with the outside of the house, his awe was doubled when seeing the inside.  White marble floors, a large chandelier casting soft light across a display of paintings and tapestries lining the walls of the high roofed room that Reno assumed went up the entire three stories.  Somehow he couldn't picture Reeve growing up here.

"Stooped to answering the door Eason?"  Reeve asked with a small amount of amusement as the two walked side by side across the foyer, Reno three steps behind.

"I was passing it when you arrived.  I was just off to fetch Samantha in fact."

Reeve stopped walking, his face lighting up with obvious pleasure.  "Sam is here?"

"She never left Reeve.  Actually she went into the city yesterday to watch the test of the cannon.  You know how she enjoys such displays.  I think she was also hoping to run into you."

Reeve smiled and shook his head.  "I was in the reactor. Where is she?"

Eason returned the smile.  "Upstairs.  If you'll wait a moment I'll just go and fetch her. I was on my way to do just that when the doorbell rang."

Reeve nodded and Eason continued across the foyer toward the expansive stairwell that ran up a large section of the western wall.  When they were alone Reno raised an eyebrow slightly in question.

"My sister Sam."  Reeve told him quietly.

Reno was actually surprised by the answer.  He hadn't known that Reeve had a sister. Actually he hadn't really known anything much about Reeve's family except that his mother had died when he was about fourteen and his father, too busy to care, still lived in Junon. 

"Sparky!"

Both men whirled around to see a young woman leaning excitedly over the railing of the balcony of the stairs.

Reeve's face lit up and he smiled up and the woman.  "Sam!"

With one last look, Sam disappeared from the railing and started down the stairs.  Once at the bottom she almost ran toward Reeve who scooped her up into a big hug that almost lifted the young woman's feet of the floor.

"My Sparky, haven't you grown stronger!"

Reeve set her down gently and looked her over.  "And you have gotten older."

Reno couldn't help his eyes following Reeve's own.   Clad in a delicate looking white dress, there was no dispute that she was Reeve's sister.  Same soft dark hair, same warm brown eyes and creamy skin. Reno couldn't help but thinking that she was quite beautiful.  Also, she can't have been more than 22yrs old. Perhaps as much as six years Reeve's junior.

"And what is with that ridiculous growth on your face?"  

Reeve sub-consciously touched the neat goatee.  "You don't like it?"

"No, but I didn't say that it didn't suit you."  She said laughing.

"I swear you were born to tease me."  Reeve accused.

"Of course big brother.  Why else do rich parents have little girls?  Certainly not to have any impact on family affairs and business.  No their only function seems to be annoying their brother, the real heir, and to get married off to other rich and eligible heirs."  She sighed most dramatically and poked Reeve playfully in the chest.  "Thank the gods you've come you can talk father out of his evil designs he had to marry me off to that obnoxious Perter boy."

Reeve laughed lightly.  "You've also become more deluded if you think he'll listen to me any more than he listens to the dog."

"Don't be so down Sparky! Come, he'll be waiting for us in the study. Um, is your bodyguard alright to follow?" Reeve nodded, apparently Eason had told her about Reno.

Sam went on ahead, Eason following close behind her.  Reeve stayed for a few moments and watched her go, Reno by his side.

"Sparky?"  Reno asked quietly, unable to keep silent after hearing the name.

"When we were younger, we got a puppy and named him Sparky.  We tried to teach him some tricks but it wouldn't take.  Eventually I tried to teach him by showing what he was supposed to do.  Sam was watching me roll around on the floor like and idiot before saying; 'I think you make the better dog Reeve.  Perhaps we should call /you/ Sparky.' From then on she called the dog Reeve and me Sparky."  Reeve smiled at the memory.  "I guess she never grew out of the habit."

Reno grinned. "You know it kind of suits you."

Reeve rolled his eyes and started off in the direction his sister had departed in, Reno a few steps behind.

The study itself wasn't quite as impressive as the rest of the house Reno had seen, but it was still quite a treat.  High bookshelves lined with everything from poetry to architecture and engineering (obviously the specialty of the family). A large oak desk sat at one end complete with computer and huge leather desk chair.  In one corner was a cluster of smaller, but infinitely more comfortable looking soft brown leather chairs arranged around an ornate wooden coffee table.  Two of the chairs were taken.  In one sat Reeve's sister Sam, straight-backed and extremely lady-like.  In the other sat a rather heavy-set older man with gray hair. To say he looked like an older, bigger (probably once upon a time, more muscled) version of Reeve couldn't have further from the truth.  The only family resemblance that Reno could see was the lines of a strong jaw and the square shoulders that he shared with his son.  Reno figured that the two children must have picked up traits more similar to their mother.  

_A good thing too, _Reno thought, _I might have mistaken Reeve for more evil version of Infrit. _

Cold gray eyes studied the pair intently for a second before settling more firmly on his son.

"Reeve." He greeted curtly.  

"Father."  Reeve replied with a little less ice that had been shown him.

Again those gray eyes turned their cold gaze back toward Reno.  Reno stood straight, unflinching under the gaze.  After all he'd had a lot more powerful and dangerous people give him such a look before without it bothering him too drastically.  Reeve's father didn't seem to like getting no reaction to his attention and scowled slightly.

"You couldn't have bought a woman Reeve?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Reno saw Reeve's jaw clench tightly, but when he spoke his voice remained calm and impassive.  

"The /Turk/ has been assigned to be my bodyguard while in the city.  I wasn't aware I was required to bring a date."

His father seemed to be taken back a bit by the tone of Reeve's voice, and especially after the mention of Reno being a Turk.  He could tell Reeve was trying to keep himself under control which surprised Reno immensely.  Since when did Reeve have to keep himself under control?  It also hadn't escaped his notice of the change in Reeve's way of speaking.  While Reeve was never one to talk like someone fresh from the slums, he's also never spoken with the same respectable tone as he did now.  It was disturbingly like Rufus was around his own father actually.

"It wasn't required.  But I would have thought you would have found a suitable wife by now. Even Samantha," Sam seemed to tense at the mention of her name, "is not too far off her own wedding.  A most appropriate young man, Donald Perter's son Richard," he continued on oblivious to insulting his son, "I'm sure you will find someone eventually, though perhaps not amongst that god awful Shinra company.  Anyway, how have you been?  Well I trust?"

"Yes father."

The sound of the doorbell rang, thankfully interrupting the conversation before Reno could get a good grip on his gun.  He just thought it was a pity he'd left his nightstick behind.  

"Ah, that will be Richard and his cousin Isabelle."

*

As it turned out, Richard and Isabelle weren't unknown to Reeve.  Apparently Richard was had gone to school with Reeve.  The two had not been friends.  That had been obvious from the onset of the dinner.  While Richard talked about 'the good ol' days' it was often a chance to poke fun at some past event in Reeve's life, or some score he had achieved that had outdone Reeve's own.  The whole display led Reno to believe that Dick hadn't in fact mentally aged a single day since his school years.

Isabelle, who it seemed had been strategically placed beside Reeve at the grand dining table was much better in most ways,  if you didn't count her obvious intentions toward the rich Mr. Evans' oldest son. Apparently that had not been such a blasé comment his father had made earlier about Reeve not having a suitable wife and had invited Isabelle in light of this fact.  Reno couldn't say though that the woman wasn't talented in the art of subtly.  In the course of the main meal, for which Reno had remained standing over by the wall directly behind Reeve's chair as he was supposed to, Isabelle had managed to basically tell Reeve that if he showed any interest she would perform any act necessary to keep said interest.  All this was accomplished without her having to say anything at all outright.  It was a skill even Scarlet would have been jealous of.  Subtle it may have been, but by the time desert came, Reeve was squirming in his chair quite uncomfortably. 

Reno would have even been amused had it not been for the other element to the dinner from hell.  The obnoxious rich bastard himself, Reeve's father.  The odd comment here and there about Reeve going to work for Shinra was all it took for Reeve to begin to go a little red in anger.  This seemed to be a long standing argument between the two, and obviously was a move that his father had not been happy about.

"I would be appalled if Junon ever became what Midgar is.  A city built for a singular corporation.  I was against even allowing Shinra to build offices here in Junon.  The mayor did nothing about the atrocity of course, he's firmly in Shinra's pocket. Spineless weasel."

"Of course my father was also against it."  Richard chimed in with his usual ass-kissing enthusiasm.  "Most of the more influential and intelligent businessmen in the city were."

Trying not to smirk, Reno cast an eye up at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling wondering if these people knew exactly where the power to run their businesses came from.  It was obvious that these people weren't worried about openly slagging Shinra in front of Reeve or a Turk either.  The weathly's view that they were too important in the grand scheme of things to be worried about such little things seemed absolute.  Actually Reno thought that more than once, the real problem with these people was the fact that they hadn't thought of President Shinra's idea first.

Eason wasn't so oblivious though and kept casting quick glances at the silent Turk as if to gauge his thoughts to such slander.  He was standing in a mirrored position as Reno, near the wall behind Reeve's father's chair.  After about the sixth glance for which Reno remained totally still and emotionless, he offered Eason a quick, subtle smile and shrug indicating that he didn't care what they were saying and that it didn't matter.  Eason seemed rather relieved after this.  Eason was a good friend of Reeve's there was no reason for him to stress over his boss' words.  Besides Reno wasn't that in love with the idea of Shinra himself and didn't really care if they were formulating a plan to kidnap the President in front of him.  Sure he would be duty bound to report it, but he also had enough faith in Shinra's abilities to protect their own no matter how rich and influential the opposition.  One look at Cassian and his men and Reeve's father would probably turn himself in.

Absently Reno noted that Dick was talking again but he didn't pay attention,  he was quite content to watch Reeve and Sam try to hold a quiet conversation over the table without attracting the attention of their otherwise occupied father.

He caught a few words along the lines of; "Visit, Midgar, Yule." And Sam's mouthed reply of; "He wouldn't let me."

It was at this point that Reeve shrugged and gestured vaguely behind him to where Reno was standing.  He said something that sounded like, "Personal Kidnapper."  And Sam laughed.  Reno almost smiled himself.

The amusement didn't last long however, Reeve's father decided to pick that moment to bring his son into the conversation.  

"You know Reeve, I don't know why you would want to go back to that city."

Reeve straightened up and gave his father an uncomfortable look.  "I have a good job there.  I am head of my department."

His father just brushed this off as no great thing.  "Yes but if you were to take over from me here, you would be President.  Not a mere department head. I am not a young man anymore Reeve and it is about time you started to realize your responsibilities.  I've let you do your own thing for far too long it seems."

"This is not some phase I'm going through father."  Reeve responded coolly. "Surely Sam can take over the company if that is what she wants. Or even your Vice-President."

"Don't be silly Reeve.  This has been a family company for generations.  It was here before Shinra and it will still be here when Shinra goes under.  You should be done with this ridiculous fantasy you have and come back to Junon. I can't understand why you wouldn't want to!"

Reeve's father mightn't understand, but Reno did.  If this was all he had to look forward to, these people, that father, Reno would have sooner shot himself than be a powerful businessman here.  Obviously Reeve didn't intend to stay, become one of these people and stay in a city that had been the cause of so much pain for him.  He just hoped that he wasn't about to do something utterly Reeve-like and accept the offer just because it was the polite thing to do.

Reeve didn't respond.

When it became a chance that Reeve might actually say yes, Reno felt the bottom of his stomach drop out.  While Junon may have been the source of Reeve's unhappy childhood. It was very possible that, thanks to Reno, Midgar might now be the source of his unhappy adulthood.  Escaping back to Junon would allow Reeve to take over control of a, by the looks of things, very prosperous construction business, live in a big house in a wealthy part of the city and have the possibility of marrying the very beautiful (and extremely willing) Isabelle.   He was sure Reeve liked woman.  Didn't he?

Then again it wasn't as if he was still running after Reeve with a pick-axe. Besides Reeve had friends in Midgar.  Far more it seemed than here.  Except of course for his sister.  Reno had a feeling that all Samantha had to do was give him one pleading look and Reeve would cave.  

Reno couldn't see Reeve's face, but he sent a nervous look in Eason's direction.  After all, hadn't Reno assured him before?

Eason did exactly the same thing as Reno had done.  He gave him a small smile and shrugged.  Either Eason didn't think Reeve would go for it, or he didn't much care.  The last seemed more likely.  Eason and Reeve seemed to be good friends, perhaps Eason would love the opportunity to get Reeve to stay.  Then again, he would have been just as happy to see Reeve off, doing whatever Reeve wanted to do.

_Annoying bastard, _Reno thought, _He and Tseng would get along great._

He couldn't help but agonize over this.  Sure he and Reeve seemed to have patched things up a bit, but Reno didn't want to leave things as they were.

_Why not? _Reno asked himself, _You're friends.  It might be good if he left Midgar before you have a chance to screw that up again._

A very good point.  So why didn't Reno agree?

Across the other side of the table Sam seemed to be avoiding both of her family members eyes as if she knew it would be unfair of her to take sides.  It didn't matter, Reeve didn't seem to be paying attention to anyone at the table anymore.  His head was down, and it looked as though he was writing something on a napkin.  His father wasn't pleased that he was being ignored.

After a deep breath the man stood up from the table.  "Reeve, I believe we should talk about this somewhere private."

"This is fine here father."  Reeve said not looking up from what he was doing.

This only served to anger the other man more.  "Wake up and see some sense man! Here you have all the opportunities in the world.  A chance at riches, a stable lifestyle, a beautiful wife," he finally outright admitted gesturing toward Isabelle, "Why wouldn't you want that?"

Remarkably the rest of the table had quieted so much you could have heard a pin drop.  Reno couldn't tell if it was an eager silence for the fight ahead, or an uncomfortable one.

"You ungrateful bastard!"  His father fumed, "After everything I have offered you, everything I have provided for you, you are going to shame your family and turn your back because you want to go off and pretend you are some important person? Well Reeve, you are not!  You are not important you are not some special person as far as the world is concerned.  It wouldn't matter if you were here or off playing engineer in Midgar, only here you would at least be taking the job you were raised to do!  Damnit, how many times have I cursed your mother for dying and leaving me with such insolent children!  If it isn't you being disobedient, it's your sister wanting to go off and follow in your footsteps. She could have at least lived long enough to give me a suitable heir!"

Reeve stopped writing.  Clasping the napkin in his fist   More calmly than Reno had thought possible, Reeve stood from his chair and crossed over to where his sister sat.  Kneeling down beside her he said;

"I'm sorry Sam but I can't do this.  Forgive me?"

Sam smiled slightly and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  "Just don't forget about me."

Nodding, Reeve subtly handed her the napkin and stood up, swiveling his head around to face Reno.  

"It's time to leave."

Reno stood there a moment longer, a little numb from all that had been going on.  He obviously didn't have to worry about Reeve staying here, that was for sure.  But he still felt like he was a little out of breath.  He'd thought all these rich assholes were nice as pie to each other.  After this display Reno had to seriously fight to urge down to yell some abuse right back.  For the first time in his life, he was glad he'd only ever had two conversations with his own parents.

"You're not going anywhere!" His father raged, "For once in your life you will do something good for yourself and do as you are told!"

Reeve looked at his father through narrow eyes.  "I am doing what is good for me.  I am getting the /fuck/ away from you."

He began to stalk past the dining table to the door behind his father.  Reno quickly fell in behind him. As he walked past, Isabelle grabbed his hand effectively stopping him.

"Think about this Reeve.  You could have so much!"

With a thoughtful expression and a rather sly twisted smiled that had never been seen on his face before, Reeve shifted his gaze from Isabelle to rest solidly on Reno.  Reno at this point began to get a little worried, he didn't like the look Reeve was giving him.  Luckily for him, he misread the look.

Not that he knew this at first.  Not until Reeve grabbed his tie and jerked him towards a smothering kiss.  Reno couldn't believe it at first.  Not until it was almost over.  When it was Reno couldn't help the absolutely goofy grin plastered across his face.

"I'd rather fuck every man, woman and chocobo in Midgar than ever touch you." He told Isabelle succinctly.

Reno's smile grew, he almost felt like cheering his friend on!

Still clutching Reno's tie, Reeve led the Turk out of his father's dining room like some pet on a leash.  They managed to get out of the room without incident this time.  Dick looked about ready to puke, Isabelle looked like she was going to start screaming and Reeve's father looked on the verge of a heart attack.  To Reno's further amusement, Sam just sat there, smiling through it all.

Before departing from the dining room completely, Reno poked his head back in for one last stab. "Thanks for the amusing night everyone, I'll give Mr. Shinra your regards. Oh and if you see a car with misted up windows in the driveway later on, I wouldn't advise disturbing the occupants I'm a crack shot when I'm pissed." Reno winked at Dick, "With my gun too."

That said, Reno whirled around and began to head after Reeve.  He had to jog to even catch up to the man and he didn't manage it till after the pair had left the house and were back outside in the cool night air.

It was then that Reeve's legs seemed to go out from under him and he sagged back against the smooth stone of the house.

"I can't believe I fucking did that!"  Reeve said through pale lips.

While inside the house, Reeve had been the king of cool and calmness, outside he could barely keep from shaking.

"Truth be told,"  Reno grinned, "I can't believe it either. Wow you really went psycho on the bastard! I'm impressed."

Reeve drew in a shaky lungful of air and gave Reno a weak smile.  "It's your fault you know.  I never would have had the guts to do that before I met you."

Reno chuckled and supported Reeve back towards the car.  "Well if you hadn't you'd have been working under your father and married to the harlot of Junon in there."

Reeve leant his head against Reno's shoulder as they walked for a moment, probably to stop his head from spinning too much.  When he raised it again he looked far better.

"I think I told her 'no' eloquently enough though don't you think?"

"I couldn't have said it better myself.  And that reminds me,"  Reno grinned again nudging Reeve, "If I'm to take your advice in this situation and listen to my head I have something to say to you," He turned his face slightly in Reeve's direction and wagged his finger in Reeve's face, "No. That's a bad Sparky."

Reeve couldn't hold it in any longer and cracked up, his arm around Reno tightened slightly.  "Very funny asshole."

*******

_Notes:  oh god I had sooooo much fun with this chapter it isn't funny.  No there's no real plot-like reason Reeve had to go see his family.  No it doesn't need to be in there.  But goddamn! I just couldn't help myself!  I had this idea late one night, probably drunk, and the idea just seemed so amusing to me somehow.  Besides Reeve needed a little something extra.  I will admit that the last  two parts have been extremely Reno-orientated and Reeve still had a long way to go as far as character development went so hopefully I've done something there. Besides I like our boys being friends again.  There is still that togetherness thing, but the underlying tension that begs to be played with. But hey, they've been so up in the air about each other, who says it'll ever stay the same. ;)_

_Oh and don't worry, I'll have a whole lot o Rufus for the next one. I know a few of you have been hanging out for that, but I have my reasons. For one thing, Rufus isn't a main main character and he's going to get a whole lot of the spotlight later on. You'll see._

_Tell your friends, relatives and co-workers_

_AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_All stories can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar_

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/_

_"I'll kiss anything you want, just help a guy out okay?"_


	10. The Countdown

What You Do To Me

By AF

Chapter 10 

The Countdown.

_In less than NINE more days…_

/"I hope you have a very good reason for not coming back to Midgar when you were scheduled to."/  Rufus said over the phone.

            Reeve smiled slightly and pushed the hand's free device on the hotel phone so he could continue talking to Rufus while he packed.

            "I do and it was worth it."  Reeve stopped for a second.  "I think."

            /"I had a whole night of celebration planned.  Congratulations by the way.  The test went off well, the building is practically finished and I have a office on one of the top floors with a view."/

            Reeve was well aware of all this, even where Rufus' new office was located.  In the new reception area on the floor just underneath his father's office.  He'd thought Rufus might like it.

            "Have you been down to see any of the other departments?"  Reeve asked curiously, wondering how his own office was faring.

            /"Most if not all.  I think everybody is extremely impressed.  Hojo has a whole floor on the 68th for his own weird pleasure.  The 66th is brimming with underlings and the new and improved conference room.  By the way I still think you should have put a secret television in there somewhere for the next time my father feels the need to make another 'good of Shinra' speech."/

            Reeve laughed and Rufus continued,

            / "The 65th is very impressive by the way.  Though I'm not so surprised you went to so much trouble for your own department.  A whole floor to yourself and your cronies. Not very subtle."/

            "Presidential orders."  Reeve told him smugly.  "I just did what I was asked."

            / "Yes I'm sure."/ Rufus replied dryly.  / "Lucky for you, your department seems to be the section of the moment within Shinra.  Very good timing I will admit.  So do I have to reschedule yet another welcoming home celebration or have you and Scarlet decided to grace us with you presence finally."/

            Reeve finished with his suitcase and stood up to stretch his back. "Since my return was delayed, and yes I am coming back tonight, Scarlet and I will be coming back at the same time.  Both the reactor and the cannon seem to be working perfectly, much to both mine and her astonishment."

*******

Rufus tapped the enter key with a flourish and a smile before sitting back and looking triumphantly at the screen in front of him. After a few moments, the smile turned into something more akin to confusion before finally settling on angry. Straightening back into his chair he tapped a few more keys and waited for the results. This time he began to look enraged. 

            "You're fucking kidding me! That _had to be the right one this time!"_

            Evidently, it was not. 

            Rufus snarled and pushed the keyboard away from him, and off the desk where it landed with a satisfying breaking noise. 

            Rufus was a destructive worker. If something wasn't working for him he either broke it or…no, usually he just broke it. He did because he had a slight temper.  If something confounded him, he would rather think it were not his fault. _It was what was making him feel stupid. __It was the one in the wrong. And __it should know better. __He knew what he wanted and __it should be helping him get it, not hinder him. But Rufus was also a persistent man. Nothing made him feel happier than working out his little puzzles. Puzzles filled with intrigue and mystery. Because when he worked them out he felt smart. And Rufus was smart. He was an intelligent man with an important job.  A job while he may not have earned it in the truest sense, he had sure as hell done to the best of his or anyone else's abilities. He was good at his job. And so it more than annoyed him each and every time something did not work for him._

            Knowing it was either leave his work alone for a little while, or start redecorating the inside of his office with ripped files and parts of computer, Rufus stood up from his desk, tugged his coat off the back of it and stalked out of his office.

*

            Rude looked up from his desk just as the irate Vice-President burst into the office and flopped into the chair across the desk.  Rude shook his head and went back to reading what was in front of him. Rufus even flopped with style. 

            The silence went on. While Rufus sat brooding, looking at his hands as they played with a paperclip that had been left on the desk, Rude kept reading. Rude liked peace and quiet. But this was not a peaceful kind of quiet. It was just as unpleasant as Rufus yelling. More so seeing as the latter is what Rufus did most often when he was upset or angry about something. It was enough to make Rude shift slightly.

            "Something wrong?" He ventured finally.

            Rufus grunted and continued playing with his paperclip.

            Sitting back from the desk, which was in fact Tseng's (his boss still being in Junon) he gave Rufus his full attention. "I can look again if you would like. I have Elena sniffing around the department at the moment."

            "A rookie." Rufus sniffed. "You too busy or something?"

            "She's not that bad." Rude paused. "Well at talking anyway. I've been chasing up that informant of Reno's."

            "Oh right, that terrorist stuff you mentioned the other day. Avalanche group wasn't it?" Rufus replied absently. "Anything major?"

            "Not as far as I can tell. New group in the slums been making an uproar, the usual. This guy Reno got is involved in the group. He said he'd tell us the moment anything major was planned."

            "Business as usual I suppose." Rufus sounded about as into the conversation as if they had been talking about the placement of furniture in the office. Something was on his mind.

            "Sir, if this is about Kramer's-"

            Rufus waved a limp hand in Rude's direction, "I know, I was hoping for a bit much. It's just so infuriating. I've never had something give me so many hassles in the past. You've done your best, I can't ask for more."

            "You usually do." Rude mumbled under his breath. Rufus pretended not to hear it. 

They were interrupted by the sound of Rufus' beeper going off. Moving himself to peer at the little device clipped to his belt, Rufus frowned, sighed and finally, boosted himself up out of the chair.

            "Duty calls. My office needs me."

            Rude watched Rufus amble out of the office with an only slightly confused expression. Rufus' visits often left him wondering the reason behind them. Probably because Rufus didn't often have much of a reason other than he just needed to be out of his own office. Rude shrugged and went back to his work.

            Rufus wandered in through the door to the outer office and up to his secretaries desk.  "You needed me for something?"

She handed him a few envelopes and motioned toward the door leading into the office proper. "Professor Hojo is waiting to see you. I showed him in."

It took Rufus a few moments of stunned silence to comprehend what it was he had just been told. He felt the overwhelming urge to double check. "Professor Hojo. Science Department."

"Yes Sir," Ruby acknowledged blandly still going about her own work, "Last I checked."

Rufus still wasn't convinced. "The same Professor Hojo I have been trying like mad for ages to get five minutes with. You're telling me that right at this very moment he is sitting in my office."

Slightly confused, Ruby looked up. "Yes Sir. In your office."

Rufus tried to look smug. He tried to make it look as though he was the one who had won out by getting the Professor here to see him. But the best expression he could pull was a kind of dazed confusion with a half-smile. The truth was that Hojo _didn't  have to see him. Rufus was the Vice-President true. But Hojo was Hojo. His father's top scientist. He possessed a kind of brilliance that his father craved for the betterment of his company. Hojo only had to see those Hojo wanted to. In other words, unless it had something to do with medicine, technology and any one of his little pet projects, you might as well take a ticket and hoped you didn't die of old age waiting. And apparently he had elected to come and visit Rufus. Rufus suddenly felt like __he was the one in trouble._

"Very well." Rufus told his secretary in confident tones that he was not able to match with his facial expression, "Thank you for informing me."

With that he entered his office, closing the out door behind him. Sure enough Hojo sat at one of the visitor's chairs before Rufus' desk. Greasy black hair, stooped shoulders and everything. He waited patiently and didn't bother turning when Rufus entered.

"Ah, Professor. I was hoping you might stop by." Rufus began striding in what he hoped was a confident way toward his desk.

Hojo waited till Rufus was just about to sit behind his desk before speaking up, "I had hoped that the visit would not be necessary Mr. Vice-President. But it would seem it is necessary if you insist on carrying on this investigation of yours."

            Rufus was still half out of his chair.  "Oh? Of course the investigation is necessary. It is part of my job."

            Hojo gave Rufus a shrewd look before standing. "Come with me Mr. Shinra. It is time you were apprised of the current situation. It is your father's request."

            Rufus nodded and straightened. Somehow he was of the opinion that he was about to find out more things he wouldn't be able to tell Reeve about.

*******

_In less than EIGHT more days…_

            "Rufus didn't come to see us when we touched down."

            "He was probably busy. He said he'd do the whole welcome back thing in next week."

            "Fair enough. So long as he doesn't try to weasel out of that drink he owes me."

            Reeve smiled to himself and turned to look at the vista out over the lip of the roof. They had touched down five minutes ago and Reno had stopped off for the opportunity to have a much needed smoke before having to head down. Tseng hadn't stayed. He'd relayed his orders to Reno regarding tomorrow before shouldering his bag and departing. He looked to have something on his mind. Though with Tseng, no one could ever really tell. Scarlet hadn't stayed either. After patting Reno on the ass she had smiled and headed off after Tseng. "Been a blast working with you Reno."

            Reno was still scowling. "Gods she gets up my nose."

            "At least you didn't see a hint of maid's outfit. Either that or you won't tell me if you did." Reeve smirked.

            "Maid's outfit?" Kattie asked with a confused smile from beside Reeve. She was waiting to give her boss a lift home.

            "The less you know, the saner you will be." Reno grumbled. He wished Kattie had just gone home. Ever since the reactor she seemed to be hanging off her boss more than usual. 

            Reno flicked the remnants of his cigarette over the side and hefted his bag. "Well I could do with a drink after that, Rufus here or no."

            Reeve seemed to ponder this for a while. "Sure why not."

            "Sure was a hectic week." Kat chimed in. "Count me in too."

            "More the merrier." Reno grumbled.

*******

In less than SEVEN more days… 

Brow furrowed Reeve wandered around the corner and continued on toward the noise. He was just about to pass another intersection when his arm was grabbed roughly and he was pulled into the corridor on the right and flattened bodily against the smooth white wall. He was too shocked to offer up much of a struggle and promptly forgot about the thought altogether when he realized who had him pinned.

            "Reno what're-"

            Reno answered him with a finger pressed up to his lips and a furtive glance toward the corridor he had just grabbed Reeve from. Reeve thought that nothing short of a terrorist group was loose in the building. But when he really took notice of Reno's expression he disregarded the idea. Reno's bright eyes were lit with excitement, face flushed with slight exertion, breathing heavily, but controlled. 

            When Reno seemed sure that Reeve wasn't going to make more noise, he removed his finger. "Whisper or they'll find us."

            Reeve nodded, no less confused. "Who will? What's going on?"

            "War." Reno answered with a smirk. 

            It was then that Reno held up his right hand to show Reeve the cluster of three water balloons. The water balloons didn't look right though. Reeve was willing to guess that they didn't contain water only. If Reno was playing war games of a Saturday in the Shinra building, there was only one answer as to who against. 

            "Rufus?"

            Reno nodded. "And El. Kind of a stealth training exercise gone insane when Rufus decided to come down and join El's side. I think I lost them up near the Lounge though." Reno's eyes glittered, "But I'm not telling you my plans, you might turn coat."

            Reeve smiled crookedly, "Letting me go might risk deception anyway."

            "So it might." Reno said, pretending to be thoughtful. When he was in the mood, he really could take simple games very seriously. "So I assure myself of your silence or recruit you. Tricky decision." Eventually Reno stepped back though and handed Reeve one of the balloons. "Since I don't want to kill you, and although tying you up sounds like fun, I think I'll recruit you. Two against one odds are shitty. 'Bout time we evened the score."

*

            Carefully, Rufus looked around the corner leading up to the training gym before motioning Elena forward with a small waving motion. He didn't know how he'd got himself caught up in this silly little game. He had been at work today for a good reason. He had important work to do.  But the moment he had happened upon Elena and Reno's little game he had felt an intense urge to join in. Leave all the serious Shinra on goings aside and have a few moments of fun. And after meeting with Hojo last week, he sure felt like he needed to get his mind off certain things.

            He watched Elena creep past him and hunker down next to the door to the gym. His 'partner' for the game, Reno's new recruit Elena. She was nicely distracting in her own way as well, though it still remained to be seen why Reno had chosen her. Sure she was nice enough to look at, and she wasn't terrible at the work, but she wasn't exactly the norm type of recruit either. Which was, Rufus supposed, the ultimate reason Reno had chosen her.

            Elena checked the gym before motioning Rufus forward. The gym was the goal of the adventure. In Reno's locker there was a bottle of what he said was one of the most expensive brands of whiskey that could be obtained in Midgar. Reno kept it there for what he described as for emergency situations and had been used as a goal for one of the two teams to retrieve. Whoever got to it first got to keep it. If Reno got to it first, not only did he keep it, he would also get Rufus' car for a night. A wager Rufus was not willing to lose. If you were hit with a 'bomb' filled with water and shaving cream, you were dead and the 'alive' team won by default. Caution was a must. 

            So Elena and Rufus crept into the gym, spaced well apart, and watching for ambushes. So far no evidence of Reno could be found. Quietly, and very carefully the two made their way toward the locker room at the far side of the room. Upon entering the two split up, Rufus moving down the rows on the right, Elena to the left. The made it all the way down to the back row of lockers, and still no sign. Rufus whispered for Elena to watch his back while he went to the locker. Rufus knew Reno's combination and after a while he managed to unlock it and pull it open with minimum force. It scraped as it came open causing Rufus to wince. The metal had been dented so many times by Reno's enraged fist it hardly opened anymore. Something that seemed to physically show how many times over the years Reno had gotten into trouble off Tseng.

            Inside, apart from a spare pair of clothing, a pair of loose pants for training, six empty packets of cigarettes and a half eaten burrito, the locker was empty. Suddenly Rufus realized they'd been set up. The realization came at about the same time as he felt something moderately heavy hit his shoulder and explode in a wet sticky mess just as he heard Elena's shout of warning. He spun around the see Reeve standing at the end of the isle grinning at Rufus. A throat being cleared above him them made him look up. Reno sat on top of the tall row of lockers, a crooked smile on his lips, legs crossed and an open bottle of whiskey by his knee. He also held another bomb loosely in his left hand.

            "You're dead." Reno informed Rufus.

            Rufus grimaced. "Damn. Should've known you'd call for reinforcements."

            "Reeve just happened by at the right time. I felt it was fairer with even sides. Don't you think Reeve?"

            The question went unanswered as Reeve stared open mouthed at the Turk recruit at the other end of the row. Another quick glance assured him that Elena's expression wasn't much different.

            "Did I miss something?" Reno asked confusedly looking between the pair.

            They both ignored him. "Reeve?" Elena questioned as though she couldn't believe her eyes.

            "Elena." Reeve responded almost bemused. "What're you-"

            But he didn't get a chance to answer. Elena smiled broadly and jogged down toward Reeve giving him a fierce hug. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

            Reno boosted himself down from his sitting position and landed none too gently beside Rufus on the ground. He recovered quickly enough though and joined Rufus in staring at the odd sight in front of them. "I take it you two know each other."

            Reeve and Elena stopped the hugging display seeming to suddenly realize they were not alone, but still sported silly grins. "We grew up together." Reeve answered eventually. Then with a slightly more odd expression asked Reno, "You mean this is 'El' your new recruit?"

            Elena caught the expression and slapped him lightly on the shoulder, "Don't make a face. It's not that weird."

            "It's a little hard to believe." Reeve told her.

            While the two of them began the friendly debate Rufus saw Reno shake his head and mutter, "This is a much too small world. Why do I feel like I'm about to get into trouble?"

            Rufus pat Reno companionably on the shoulder. "Because you are probably right." Then Rufus took the opportunity to dump his last remaining bomb down over Reno's head.

***** _In less than FIVE more days…_

            "Eleven letters, starts with P. Another word for wanton or licentious." 

            "Promiscuous."

            Reno wrote it down and smiled happily at the result. Not that Reeve could see what he was doing. Reeve was sitting at one end of the sofa, his back to the other occupant while he used the armrest to jot down a few notes from the laptop sitting on the coffee table. He had already run out of desk space in his new office and had no place else to do work until he got the time to clean it off. The reason he couldn't see Reno at all was because the other man was using him as a convenient back rest.

            "You're a walking dictionary Reeve."

            "Thesaurus." Reeve corrected. He tried to crane his neck round to see what Reno was doing. Apart from knowing Reno was writing something in a magazine, he could see little else. "I didn't think crosswords would be your thing."

            "I can be intellectual when I want to be Reeve. I'm trying to expand my vocabulary. Besides I'm bored as chocobo shit, there's no jobs and Tseng's being surly."

            Reeve shrugged. He didn't mind the company and Reno's questions for help with words didn't detract from his work any. He had to admit that it was kinda nice just sitting here like this.

            "Four letters, second letter U. Yearn for."

            "Lust." Reeve answered without thinking.

            A few more moments of silence passed while Reno chewed on his pen.

            "Immoral. Starts with a D."

            "How many letters?"

            "One, two, three…eight."

            "Depraved." Reeve suddenly stopped for a moment and lifted his head from his work. With a confused expression he looked back at Reno as best he could and asked, "Just what magazine is this for anyway?"

            "Junon Sluts." Reno answered matter-of-factly. "You know I didn't even realize that these things had a crossword section till I was bored enough to actually read the writing in it. It's actually got some interesting articles."

            Reeve closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. "Figures."

            "For instance," Reno continued, "Did you know that there is purportedly several places on a person's body that if you pinch the nerves just right it will give them stimulation. All I was ever taught was the pressure points to kill or disable someone."

            "I don't think Turk basic training covers erogenous zones." Reeve answered turning back to his work.

            He felt the weight of Reno remove itself from his back and side. "Do I have any?"

            "Yes."

            "Oh yeah. Do you?"

            "No."

            He couldn't see him, but he could tell Reno was smirking. "I seem to remember something-"

            He felt Reno prod a spot on his lower back. With restrained amusement, Reeve reached around and batted the hand away, not taking his eyes off his work.

            The hand stayed away, but he could sense the plotting. Hands latched onto his sides so quickly that Reeve yelped and dropped his pen. He half turned to knock both Reno's hands away. 

            "All you're doing is tickling me." Reeve told him trying to hide his smile.

"You're such a chocobo." Reno answered petulantly, something that did not work for the Turk. He was about to pick up his magazine again when the inside pocket of his jacket started ringing. Reno set about digging it out. "Looks like Tseng's found me something to do after all."

****

_In less than ONE more day…_

"So I take it the reactor didn't explode?" Rufus asked in relative good humor.  Since getting back the group hadn't found the time to get together since the Junon trip. Rufus and Reeve both had been busy. And by this time, Rufus hadn't been able to catch up on all the gossip anyway.

            The question though caused both Reeve and Tseng to look a little uncomfortable while Reno sat grinning like an idiot. He had already had more to drink than anyone at the table. Not that it showed too much, but he was obviously buzzed. So was Reeve by the look of it too. Tseng, who never seemed to drink much, sat still nursing his first. Nobody could ever tell with Rude till he passed out.  Rufus felt pleasant, but not tipsy. 

            Still grinning, Reno flung out a hand for his beer glass while gesturing alternatively between the two men sitting either side of him. His wide grab would have knocked the glass off the table had Reeve not reached over a second prior to collision, lifted the glass and put it in Reno's hand while taking a gulp from his own glass. Reno didn't seem to notice the difference. For that matter neither did Reeve.

            "No, but I heard it was a close thing. I hear Tseng here was ready to shit himself." Reeve almost choked on the mouthful he was taking and Reno absently handed him a napkin from the table while he turned his eyes to his boss. Surprisingly Tseng gave him a toothy smile. It looked more like a snarl actually.

            "Hardly."

            "Please Reno, not even Hojo gives Tseng the shivers." Rufus spoke up.

            Reno shrugged and dug a hand into his pocket in search of his cigarettes. "Okay so maybe not shitting himself. But that hyperactive underling of Reeve's told me he looked plenty nervous when those sirens started going off."

            "Perhaps." Tseng allowed nonchalantly. "Meanwhile you where the picture of collected calm I take it?"

            Reno shrugged and started patting down his pockets. "I had everything under control."

            Retrieving Reno's lighter for him from the table directly in front of Reno and passing it onto him, Reeve said to Rufus, "It's the truth." A pause. "Well, so Scarlet tells me, he had everything properly in hand."

            Rufus had stopped really listening a few minutes ago. Watching Reeve and Reno initiating each other's moves like this was starting to make him feel ill. He wondered if they even knew they were doing it.

            A quick puff of smoke escaped Reno's mouth while Tseng smiled in appreciation. Reno fixed Reeve with a look. "You wouldn't poke fun if you knew what it was like practically working with that woman. The whole load of superiors in this company must have been chosen by who could give the best blow job or something. They sure as hell weren't chosen for their outstanding intelligence."

            With the exception of Rude, they all glared at him. Reno seemed to forget all too often that three of his four major drinking buddies were his work superiors.

            "What?" Reno asked with mock innocence. 

            "Well Reno, you just remember that then if you ever have to go and see Heidigar for a promotion of your own some day." Rufus told him in what he hoped was all seriousness. He was delighted to see Reno turn a little green.

            "That isn't even funny."

            "I thought it was funny." Reeve put in proving that perhaps he was in fact a little more than tipsy.

            "That's because you're drunk," Reno informed him, "And not everything said to you goes straight into a metal picture in your head."

            "I'm not drunk." Reeve protested half heartedly.

            "All you old bastards get drunk too quick." Reno smirked flicking ash into an ashtray that hadn't been there two seconds ago.

            "Old? Give me a break."

            Rufus, warming to the new subject gave Reeve a mischievous look. "I'm second oldest at the table and I'm thirty four."

Reeve laughed at threw another peanut into his mouth from the bowl in front of him. "I thought you /had/ to be younger than me!"

            Rufus shook his head faintly smiling. "Goes to show how much you can tell by appearances. "I bet you don't know how old /any/ of your friends are."

            "Rufus…" Reno began with a serious look.

            "What?" Reeve asked watching Reno's look. "You look worried."

            It occurred to Reeve at that moment that he really didn't know a simple thing like the ages of his friends.  Even Reno for that matter.  He guessed it just had never mattered to him enough to ask.

            "I'll bet he is. But first I want to embarrass Tseng here."

            Attention at the table now turned to the Turk's leader as he quietly sipped his beer.  He didn't look worried, it fact he looked mildly amused at Rufus' idea of embarrassment.

            "How old?" Reeve asked curiously.

            Tseng chimed in before Rufus was able to respond. "Forty eight."

            Reeve's mouth dropped open.  He had been expecting something like Rufus' own age, maybe even willing to believe forty. But almost fifty? "You're kidding?"

            Tseng shook his head, looking even more amused.  "Can't believe I'd be old enough to be Reno's father? Or yours for that matter."

            "That's a horrifying thought." Reno mumbled.

            "'Or yours for that matter?' C'mon I can't be /that/ much older than Reno." Reeve laughed. "How old are you anyway?" Reeve finally asked Reno directly.

            Reno shrugged as casually as he could muster and pretended not to care. "Trade secret."

            "Twenty three." Rufus answered for him.

            "Rufus!"

            "What?" Reeve asked as if he hadn't heard. Then smiled. "Now I know you're yanking my chain."

            Rufus disregarded Reno's outburst and shook his head in mock seriousness. "Afraid not. Youngin' ain't he?"

            Reeve saw the expression on Reno's face, and his own smile slipped off. "He's not kidding?"

            Reno shifted uncomfortably in his chair and again tried to shrug it off. "So, I'm youngish. You wouldn't have guessed it if big mouth over there hadn't told you."

            "That's a seven year difference." Reeve mumbled under his breath. "I met you….when you were….twenty one?!"

            Rufus sat back in his chair and allowed himself a rather smug smile.

*

            "Twenty one?!" Reeve muttered again for maybe the sixth time.  "I can't believe you were that young!"

            Reno finally sighed as he closed the door behind them and flipped on the light in the room with his elbow.  "Thought you might want to rant about this a little more in private."

            "But twenty one!" Reeve exclaimed leaning up against the wall by the kitchen door.

            "Does the age difference really bother you /that/ much?" Reno asked gesturing with the coat slung over his arm, before finally throwing it in the direction of the couch.

            "Maybe not if you'd been twenty five or something. But, twenty one? You were still a kid!"

            Reno couldn't help but smile at that one. "A kid? C'mon, when you saw me you assumed I was in my mid-twenties. You obviously didn't think of me as a kid then."

            "Reno, you're seven years younger than me. To me you /are/ still a kid."

            This even caused him to laugh.  He crossed the room to stand in front of Reeve and grinned at him evilly.  "Maybe, secretly, you just like 'em young."

            "That's not funny!"

            "Oh c'mon. I was just joking. Look if it makes you feel any better, I was nineteen when I first came to work at Shinra. Want to know when I first lost my virginity? It was long before then even."

            "Not really." Reeve mumbled.  "Wait, so Tseng…and he's…." Reeve shook his head, "I /really/ can't believe Tseng would.  Or that he's almost fifty.  Was he joking?"

            "No. Tseng just don't look his age 'cause of the Mako 'an shit. He was forty five when I first fucked him." Reno grinned again. "Feel better?"

            "I can't believe you thought I would when you just said that."

            "Jealous?"

            Reeve knew instantly he was being baited and a smile of his own crept up over his face. "Hardly. I didn't even know you when you were nineteen."

            Reno stepped up so close to him, that Reeve could feel Reno's warm breath on his face. Reno still had that joking look on his face.  "Bet you would've liked to though. Bit of nineteen year old ass, hmmm? Didn't know you were such a dirty old fucker Reeve."

            Reeve pushed him away with a light shove. "You have a perverted mind Reno."

            "Hey I wasn't the one fucking someone barely above legal drinking age. I should have told you about this sooner, I could have teased you even more."

            "I think you're doing a fine job as is.  And I'm not /that/ old."

            "Pity really. Old guys have some really fabulous things going for them. Take the false teeth thing. How worry free would it be getting a blow job of a guy with no teeth?"

            "You really are demented aren't you?"

            "What?" Reno asked innocently, "Not getting you hot am I?"

            "Embarrassed, disgusted, yes. Turned on? No."

            Reno resumed his position directly in front of Reeve again. "Again, pity. At least you know what your missing now. Lean, flexible, responsive body of a younger man…."

            "Cut it out."

            "Or what? Thought you said I wasn't getting you hot." Reno mocked.

            Reeve got his calculating look over his face for a moment. Reno only had time to ponder over the look for a few seconds before his shirt was grabbed and he was pulled forward, and soundly kissed.  This wasn't any, 'let's see how much I can piss of my father' or 'tentative' kisses. This was Reeve trying to get him back with the most sensual, seductive and bruising kisses he could muster, trying to give him something to make Reno hornier than he'd been in a very long time. And damn, if Reno didn't think he had succeeded.

            Reeve ended the kiss, and with a self satisfied smile told Reno to; "Stop talking about it. You're being obnoxious."

            Reno swallowed thickly, still feeling the lingering aftereffects of the kiss. Eyes half closed, still leaning forward slightly. "Bad Sparky." 

            Reeve smiled. "I wasn't cracking onto you. I was teasing you back."

            Reno recovered a raised an eyebrow at him.  "No you weren't. You were tryna make me come in my pants."

            "Such a young, responsive body." Reeve said wistfully, mockingly. "Did it work?"

            "No. But if at first you don't succeed…"

            "What happened to 'bad sparky'?"

            "I think my brain stopped working about five minutes ago."

            Reeve laughed and shoved him back again. "Yeah well, mine still works."

            "Then why…?"

            "Why the kiss? I like to think I know you by now. Getting you to shut up is one of the trickiest tasks on the face of the planet. Aside from punching you I had little other choice."

            "You're so full of shit."

            "Besides," Reeve continued, "You know I wouldn't be interested anymore in anything like that. Remember? I like 'em young." Reeve sighed overdramatically, "I guess you're a little past it now."

            "Come over here, I'll show you 'past it'."

            Reeve laughed and continued to lean on the wall behind him. Reno though, regained the lost few feet when Reeve had pushed him away and looked directly into his friend's eyes. 

            "What?" Reeve asked eventually.

            "You don't /really/ care about that age stuff do you?" He asked somewhat seriously.  "I mean it's not like I was fourteen and you were sixty."

            "At first I kind of got a little uncomfortable." Reeve admitted. "But no. I don't really care."

            "I mean," Reno continued, "When I was nineteen and first joined the Turks, Tseng was in his late forties. And /that/ never seemed like a big deal. The mako helps him look younger and everything but…" Reno's sentence trailed off as he saw Reeve's face crease slightly at the mention of Tseng.

            "You know, I always thought Tseng would know better than to get involved in something with a man, young man, he was supposed to train."

            Reno almost smiled at the expression. It was the closet thing he'd even seen to jealousy ever from Reeve.  Despite the uncomfortable subject matter, Reno suddenly felt very warm.

            "Guess I can be more tempting than you give me credit for." Reno remarked. "One day in training, after a couple of hours sweating it out on the mats, I sent him flat on his back with a kick." Reno smirked. "I didn't let him get up again that's for sure. Least not on his feet."

            Reeve swallowed thickly causing Reno's smirk to widen. He could just imagine the mental images he was giving the other man.

            "Just like that?" Reeve asked. "In the Shinra Building?!"

            "Well, after a couple of weeks of sly looks and banter, not to mention the four hours of hand to hand we were unnecessarily practicing after work hours as a form of play. But yeah, just like that in the Shinra gym. The place was deserted and there's no security on that level."

            "Nothing like that ever happened when /we/ trained."

            "Not that I wouldn't have liked to. For one thing, it was always during office hours. For another, I thought you were basically a no go. Why?" Reno asked daringly laying his palms flat of the wall either side of Reeve's head.  "Starting to wish it was otherwise? Half naked sweaty, wrestled to the mats and pinned down while I exacted weeks of pent up tension on you?"

            Again Reeve swallowed. The closeness of Reno probably wasn't helping.

            "Stop teasing." Reeve said huskily.

            "You know there's only one way to shut me up." Reno reminded gamely. But he was only really playing. How could he not? He was enjoying the looks Reeve gave him while he talked, made him feel wanted still. Even if it were only over some sort of jealousy. So naturally he wasn't expected Reeve to reach up, drag his closer and kiss him again. It was like the kiss before, with a hint of demanding urgency behind it that stole Reno's breath away. Unconsciously he leaned into the other man, trapping him between the wall behind him and Reno's own body. Reeve arms encircled his waist urging him to press form firmly against him with hands that slowly reached down to rest form firmly on his ass.

            This was /not/ a shut up kiss. This was not a show off kiss. This was not a teasing kiss. This kiss was familiar. In a pent up tension, demanding an aggressive way. But this kiss promised more. 

            This is what Reeve had warned him about. Warned him to stop things if it ever happened. To listen to his head. Not his heart. And most definitely not his dick. Pity really that Reno's brain had stopped working, as he had informed Reeve, about five minutes ago. Stopping didn't seem to be an option that either or them were contemplating. Reeve's hands moved again to slip up underneath the hanging tail of his shirt and caress his bare back. The touch was electrifying for him. And he couldn't help but think about what it would be like, being totally with this man again.

            _Don't think! Do!_

_            But that thought had been enough to kick his brain back into gear._

            _He told me not to do this._

_            'Then why doesn't he stop? He's just as into this as you are. You can't help what he's doing to you.'_

_            Because he warned me against it. I won't break my promise._

_            Reeve's hands slid around his sides to the front, creating a small gap between them._

            _I won't break my promise._

The hands slid over his stomach with feather-light touches, ever so slowing moving down. Reno groaning in frustration and re-doubled his efforts to ignore the little voices in his head.

            _I won't break my promise._

_            Fingers slipped underneath the waist of his pants._

            _I'm going to break my promise._

            With a frustrated whimper Reno pulled totally away. Reeve looked startled at the sudden movement but seemed too shocked to say anything. Reno really looked at him. Slightly tousled hair, moist, kiss swollen lips, and glazed eyes. He was going to tear out his hair with disappointment. 

            _I'm really going to leave /that/ because of some stupid promise?_

_            Yes. He was._

            Setting his jaw firmly, Reno ground out a simple, "Remember to kill me before you make me promise you anything like this again. Torturing me like this isn't healthy."

            Reeve looked confused for a moment. Suddenly he seemed to remember what Reno was saying. His shoulders slumped and he looked down at his shoes. "I'm sorry."

            "Really I did this to myself." Reno admitted, "You needn't be sorry. But kissing me is /not/ helping! Your kisses….You might as well be doing a striptease in a candle lit bedroom and pouring whiskey over your body."

            Reeve looked at Reno seriously for a moment.

            Reno returned the serious look.

            As the last statement was left hanging in the air, both of their faces started to fit back humorous smiles.

            In unison they both began to snigger.

            "As good as whiskey and candles huh?" Reeve asked.

            "Would seem so. Not sure where that one came from. But now that I think about it…"

            They took a few moments between laughing and smiling. Finally Reeve managed to lift his arm to check his watch. "It's late. Too late. Couch?"

            Reno nodded smiling. "Thanks. I can find the stuff." Reno added as he saw Reeve begin to head for the linen closet.

            "Alright. We better…ah.."

            "Night Reeve."

            "Yeah." Reeve responded heading for his room. He paused by the door and looked back at Reno, unusually somber after the laugh earlier. "For what it's worth, thank you. It's probably for the best."

            "For the first time in my life. I can't help wishing for the worst though."

            **_…at approximately 3:30 in the morning, Midgar Reactor Number One, exploded._**

************

**            _Notes: Well you might say that Reno got his wish. _**

_As per usual, there was meant to be more of this chapter. And as per usual, the metaphorical editing floor is littered with tidbits that were too long, and at present, unnecessary. You might argue that most of this chapter was like that though. I know, disjointed again. But the whole countdown was another later idea that ended up being a whole chapter on its own. I needed to work the kinks out of the friendship, slip a few more kinks in there, have Rufus find out some dark company secrets, have Reeve and Elena meet, and keep Kattie in there for good measure. Most of it was fun though. I did cut some Rufus dark scenes though which I'm a little more than sorry about. Not to mention quite a bit more of Elena's training. But hopefully the fic will be back on track next chapter when we start digging into the first leg of the 'in-game' stuff. And sorry Avalanche fans, I'll warn you know, they aren't going to be in the remainder of the fic as might as you might have hoped. It's not going to be told from their perspective after all. They'll be in there for the Shinra dealings and a little more when I get around to dealing with Reeve's part in Avalanche. But this is definitely going to be told from the Shinra side of things. And mostly, Reno, Reeve, Rufus and Tseng at that. Should be interesting in any event when I start dealing with the reactor bombing next chapter Yay!_

_AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_The Monsters Trilogy can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar._

_http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie/_

_Review, and my newly stroked ego will kick me to write more often._


	11. Game On

What You Do To Me

__

By AF

****

Chapter 11

Game On.

Don't be fooled by Shinra. 

Mako energy doesn't last forever!

Mako is the planet's lifesource!

The end is in sight!

Protectors of the Planet:

AVALANCHE.

~~~

"Here, drink this."

Reeve took the proffered cup of coffee, but didn't take a sip. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene outside his window.. The sky had faded somewhat, but only to a dull orange rather than the angry red it had been. Reno sat down on the bed beside him, but didn't look at the scenery. He sat and watched his friend. A concerned look on his face.

"Are you okay?" Reno asked. Then amended, "I know you're not okay okay. But I mean are you…."

"Why did they do it?" Reeve interrupted quietly. "They've never done anything like this before."

"Fanatics." Reno said dismissively. "You get the odd group or two that'll go further than the rest."

"But why /now/?" Reeve persisted. "Has it really come to this? Do people hate us so much that they're willing to kill so many innocent people to strike at us?"

Reno sighed and lowered his eyes. "It looks that way."

Finally Reeve was able to pull his eyes away from the window and back toward Reno with an accusing look. "You knew something like this was going to happen."

"No." He protested, "You have my word that this shocked the hell outta me just as much as anyone else…"

"But," Reeve prompted, eyes narrowing.

"But Rude told us he'd been having some problems while we were in Junon. 

There's a group that's been stirring up a bit of trouble in the slums. He said he expected something drastic, but this was a little too much ya know? No one expected this."

Reeve stood dropping his coffee and rounding on Reno. "You should have told me!"

"You didn't /need/ to know Reeve. Public Safety is Heidigar's department remember."

"Yeah well they blew up one of /my/ reactors didn't they!" Reeve said angrily as he began to pace. 

Reno stood up and watched him apprehensively. "We'll fix this." As he said that, his PHS started to ring from the other room. Reno ignored it. He knew who it was anyway and what it was about. Right now he didn't need the aggravation.

"You'll fix this?! How? Are you going to un-blow the reactor. Bring those people back to life?"

Reno scowled slightly at him. "You make this sound like this is my fault."

"Maybe it is in a way. Any time one of these groups surfaces, Tseng orders you all down into the slums to make the problem go away. You can't have thought that maybe one group will slip by you and pay you back? Oppressing people with brute force is not going to make them suddenly shut up and be quiet."

The PHS continued to ring.

"Would you rather have this sort of thing happening all the time? Huh? And these people aren't the kind of people that are going to listen about peace over a pot of tea and biscuits. Are you really saying that I am worse than them? I may have done some shitty things in my time, but I've never blown up an entire reactor."

Reeve stopped in front of him and glared. "How many people do you suppose you've killed? I'm not naive, I know what you do. How many huh? Twenty, more? How many people do you think were killed tonight? Twenty? More?"

"/That/ is /not/ the same thing and you gods damned /know it/!"

"What because you don't kill or torture innocent people? I can show you an apartment building that would testify to that. I can show you two, three plaques. " More quietly now, "I can show you a few scars too."

Reno opened his mouth to respond, but he found he couldn't and promptly shut it again. He'd deserved that, he knew. Still, that didn't prepare him for it. He clenched his jaw so tightly he could feel the muscles spasm slightly.

In the lounge room his PHS continued to ring. Suddenly he felt like answering it. He went to turn his back to Reeve, but Reeve caught his arm.

"I'm sorry." He apologized quietly. "I didn't mean that."

Reno shook the grip loose and started toward his ringing PHS. "Yes you did."

He got back into the lounge room and began sorting through his jacket for his PHS. He was vaguely aware of Reeve trailing behind him, but he ignored the presence. Another conversation between them right now was probably not a good idea.

"What?" He answered into his PHS.

Reno listened to Tseng's orders patiently. He'd expected to be called in.

"I'll be there in fifteen." Reno answered once Tseng had finished and hung up. Quickly he began getting into his shirt, swinging and fastening his gun holster as he went. Reeve watched his actions from across the room.

"Where are you going?"

Reno put his jacket and shoes on and started for the door. "To do my immoral unjustified job." Reno spat back sarcastically. "To forcefully oppress the Midgar populace and hopefully not get my head blown off in the process."

"Reno don't leave like this."

"Actually I think this is a good time for me to leave. When you come up with a perfect way to run the world without violence, you let me know."

Then he left.

****

"You look like shit."

Reno frowned at his friend. "You don't look so crash hot yourself."

And Rude didn't. For the first time in perhaps all the time Reno had known him, Rude visibly looked depressed. There wasn't a lot in the world that could effect Rude so much to the point of giving him severe facial expressions. 

"Maggie wants to leave Midgar. Sez she's got a bad feeling and she wants to leave. She's pissed that I won't go with her."

"You're kidding! She wants to leave?"

Rude nodded.

"Jeez." Reno looked stunned. 

Rude looked past Reno at the still smoking wreckage behind his fellow Turk. "Not really surprising I guess. How's Reeve taking it?"

"And why do you assume I was with him?" Reno asked defensively.

"You left together." Rude said simply.

"I leave the bar with you all the time. Doesn't mean we go home and fuck now does it?"

The two turned and began walking further towards the wreck that was now the reactor. Technicians ran around everywhere, scoring the wreckage with various machines looking for leaks or survivors. Surprisingly, the reactor wasn't quite as back as Reno would have imagined. The structures were amazingly strong, designed to withstand immense pressure. Almost the entire frame structure was still intact. But the higher levels had been completely blown. Rude and Reno took this all in as they slow-walked toward where their boss was conferring with a white coated technician.

"I didn't say anything about that." Rude said. "I figured he'd want to talk to you."

"Yeah." Reno said remembering. 

"So?"

"So he's being an asshole about it all." Reno winced as soon as he'd said it. What Reeve had said had been true to a point, but Reno couldn't help but feeling a little miffed by it all.

Rude raised an eyebrow at Reno but didn't comment on it. It was obvious that he didn't really believe it though. Reno couldn't blame the guy. The idea of Reeve being an asshole was just about as odd as thinking of Rufus being compassionate. It did happen, just not often enough to think that it was something normally with the person's capability to be.

Out of the corner of his eye, Reno made out the shape of Kattie wandering about, a team of techs trailing behind her. Vaguely he wondered whether Reeve might have also been called to come out here not long after Reno had left. Cassian was also here. They'd have to pass through a Soldier blockade before going too much further. Cassian was near the head of the blockade, talking with one of his troops.

"Tseng wants me to talk to Caz. I'll catch you up."

Rude left him and made a bee-line for the head of Soldier while Reno continued onto Tseng. The Soldiers didn't even look in his direction as he slipped past the blockade. 

"Sir." Reno said coming to stand slightly behind his boss.

Tseng dismissed the tech, but didn't immediately turn to Reno. "You have to learn to answer you PHS on time."

"Yes Sir." Reno responded.

Tseng turned and motioned for Reno to come closer. "I believe Rude was wise to think this group might be a problem."

"You think it's the same group?" Reno asked unnecessarily. 

"It wasn't a malfunction." Tseng said wearily. "Yes, I think Avalanche was responsible."

"The contact?"

"Didn't inform me about this little mission. I hope not on purpose. What do you think? You bought him to me in the first place."

Reno thought on this for a second. "It was probably that he didn't have the chance to get in contact."

"I hope for his sake that that is correct. I should inform you that Heidigar is treating this as an act of war."

"This'll get messy." Reno added. "Where's Rufus?"

"With the PR people. I think we can assume he'll be too busy to bother for quite some time."

"What about the reactor?"

"I'm told it may be salvageable. But I've only talked to techs. Urban Development should have a more definite answer for me by the morning. Kattie's called Reeve in. I'm anxious to hear what he thinks."

__

No you're not, a sing-song voice inside Reno's head chanted. 

Rude stepped up beside Reno and addressed Tseng. "Sir. Caz has the site secure. Soldier will step up guard on the other reactors. He'll have to get Heidigar's permission."

"Tell him to delay that order."

Rude sounded a little confused at this. "He thinks they may try for another…"

"Undoubtedly." Tseng answered. "Which is why I want the order delayed. If we can find out where they are going to strike next, we may get the advantage. If the reactors are sealed up, we may scare them off and lose our chance."

"Orders Sir?" Rude questioned.

"Rude, I want you to work with Soldier. Keep up a loose security detail on the reactors. But mainly, I want you and Cassian to dig around in security at Shinra. These terrorists got the reactor pass-codes from somewhere. I want to know where."

Rude nodded and moved off.

"Watcha want me to do?"

"Take over for me here. Rufus will want an update once he gets here, I'll handle speaking to the President. Collect as much information from the techs and Soldier as you can. Report back to me tomorrow morning before you go home. I'll need to brief you on another task."

Reno nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"I need to check on one of our Solider candidates."

***

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Tseng had told him to stay behind and collect data. That meant talking to the highest ranking people on the site. That meant talking to Caz, Scarlet's second, a man named Del, the day shift overseer and, of course, Reeve. Needless to say which one he left till last. Before then, he didn't pick up much. The overseer told him that perhaps fifteen people had been in the reactor at the time of the blast not counting any troopers pulling guard duty. Del didn't have much to say. He'd been bought in to look at the bomb used, something they had yet to recover from the wreckage. It had probably been destroyed behind recognition anyway. 

He found Reeve crouched on a medium sized mound of debris, scanning the site lit up by the various floodlights set up for the Shinra crew. Reno scrambled halfway up the pile and cleared his throat. Reeve looked a little startled but soon settled again after seeing who is was. His face was smudged here and there with black ash, as were the rest of his clothes. The knees of his jeans were jet black. He looked like the survivor of a house fire. Then again, most of his department running around looked much the same.

"Tseng wants a report." Reno began curtly.

Reeve shrugged in an attempt to appear casual, but the hopeless look in his eyes gave him away. "It's salvageable. We think we could have the reactor cleaned up and back up within the month. The lower levels are surprisingly still pretty intact. The upper levels will need major repairs."

Reno nodded, thankful for not having to tell Rufus even more bad news.

"We haven't been able to find any leaks from the core yet. I'd be surprised if there weren't any though. Near as I can figure, the bomb was set right near the core."

Obviously Reno wasn't the only one collecting data. He let it go though.

"Any chance of poisoning?"

"Not much. If there are leaks, they can't be huge ones. Still, I've ordered half my crew home so I can rotate them fairly regularly. I don't want to lose more people."

Reno nodded and began back down the slope.

"Reno wait!"

Reno stopped where he was and waited for Reeve to catch up to him. He wasn't in the mood for it though. Rufus would be here soon and there were still a few more people he had to see.

"I'm sorry. For before. Really I am."

"I know. You were right though. I've got to go." 

Reno left him there without a backwards glance standing halfway up the slope. He'd thought a lot about their argument since it had happened. Reeve was right, and it was probably a good thing. He had a feeling that this whole thing was going to get far worse before it got better, and Reeve wouldn't be so quick to apologize later. It was better this way.

Really.

Kattie came up beside Reeve as he stood halfway up the mound, watching Reno's back as he walked away. Kattie puzzled over this for a while, she knew her boss would take the news of the reactor harshly, but he seemed a little more saddened after his talk with the Turk than before when he'd first arrived on the site and looked over the damage. And that said a lot. The Turk, Reno, must have given him some bad news.

"Something wrong?" She asked hesitantly.

Reeve shook his head and looked at her, a strange glint in his eyes. Kattie realized then that underneath the saddened look, Reeve was a little angry. Slowly the rest of his face changed to suit. 

"Have you taken a look around you lately? A lot of things are wrong."

Kattie blinked at his harsh wording in surprise. "I didn't mean, I just thought…"

The look of Reeve's face melted after the outburst and he gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry Kat, It's not your fault. Reno was just…." Reeve looked out after the Turk again and shrugged.

"I thought he must have given you some bad news or something. Worse news." She amended remembering Reeve's earlier comment.

"In a way." Reeve replied, a hint of that earlier anger creeping back into his voice.

Kattie let the subject drop. Evidently it had been the Turk that had made him upset. If it didn't have anything to do with the situation at hand, she figured it was none of her business anyway. She couldn't help her interest being a little piqued though.

"So do you want me to stay here with the first shift or come in with the second?" Kattie asked instead.

Reeve looked at her blankly for a few moments before nodding in understanding. Because of the threat of possible leaks, Reeve had divided his division into three shifts that would work for 21hrs. Each shift taking seven hours each. The three shifts were to be overseen by the top three in the department. Namely Reeve, Kattie and Frank.

"The second." Reeve answered after a moment's thought.

"You taking the third?"

Reeve shook his head, his eyes going over the site. "I'll stay for the first."

Kattie blew out a deep breath. "Sir, I have to object."

Reeve's eyes found her again. "Since when do you call me Sir?"

"Since I want to lodge a formal objection. You only just got back from Junon. I bet you haven't had much sleep since you got back with everything going on with the Tower. I haven't certainly. If you stay on site in this condition I'll be forced to lodge a formal complaint with the Vice President."

Reeve opened his mouth to object, but he knew Kattie only meant well. She really didn't mean to go to Rufus about this, she was just concerned about him. He forced a smile he hoped was warm and shook his head.

"I appreciate the concern. A week back and I still don't feel very awake. But I don't think I could sleep right now anyway."

"Then I'll buy you a drink." She persisted.

"I definitely don't feel like going to a bar."

"Then I'll buy you a drink at my place. No wait," She thought for a second, "I don't have anything at home. I'll let you buy me a drink then."

He couldn't help a small /real/ smile at that. Usual Kattie, never taking no for an answer and always wanting to help out, whether the other person wanted her help or not. Her wanting to help him out wasn't surprising, but her invitation was. While they got on fabulously at work, they never usually socialized out of work. At the present, he couldn't work out why.

"C'mon, I know Frank is a bit of a waste of space in the office, but on site he's more than capable."

"Alright. But only one drink. You have your shift coming up in seven hours."

She nodded eagerly and took his arm, leading him away from the destruction.

*

Rufus stepped out of his car where he'd illegally parked it on the roadway and slammed the door as hard as he could. A couple of startled techs around him, upon seeing who it was, took one look at the man's face before backing up slightly lest they become the object of such wrath. Rufus ignored them and gazed up at the reactor, fists clenched tightly at his sides, face livid.

"Fucking Fantastic!"

Then he started walking toward the chaos surrounding the reactor. At some point he became aware of Reno falling into step beside him, but he didn't even give the Turk the slightest glance. His eyes were fixed on the mess in front of him. Finally he stopped and kicked a random piece of debris.

"I'll cut out their fucking hearts! Tell me you know who these people were!"

"We're pretty sure we know." Reno answered steadily. "The tapes that feed back from the reactor were cut. But we were able to get vague descriptions from a trooper that radioed in a disturbance."

"A disturbance!" Rufus fumed. "A fucking /disturbance/! What else did you get?"

"He was cut off shortly after apparently. We know it wasn't a malfunction."

"I could've told you that! How long?"

Reno wasn't sure what exactly Rufus was asking. How long was the rector out for, or how long before the terrorists were caught. Reno assumed both.

"Urban Development think within a month. For the other, you'll have to ask Tseng."

"Fucking fantastic!" Rufus repeated. "My father is waiting for a full report. Tseng's not answering his PHS, and Heidigar is clueless. Where's Reeve?"

"I think he left a little while ago."

"Does no one take this shit seriously!?"

Reno scowled slightly at Rufus for the comment. Of course people were taking it seriously. There was no reason for Rufus to get so worked up about it.

"We're doing the best we can." Reno commented. He knew that now was not the time for him to be talking so blatantly to Rufus. Technically Rufus was his superior and Reno should act as such toward him. But Rufus was also his friend. His friend that was being obnoxious. "It's after six AM and people are barely awake and on their feet. There is a lot to do."

When Rufus spoke next, the sharp edge of his voice was still there, but at least his temper seemed to have lessened slightly. "I've just spent three hours with the PR people trying to convince them that it wasn't a reactor malfunction, and it wasn't negligence by the work crew. Mind you, telling them it was a terrorist attack isn't much better. My father," Rufus almost spat the word, "Somehow thinks I can come up with some brilliant way to make this all go away. To tell them nothing happened. How can nothing have happened! Half the fucking city felt that explosion. And a blown up reactor isn't the easiest thing to hide."

"Lay the blame on the terrorists?" Reno asked casually lighting a cigarette. It surprised him as to how much he wanted one right now. It surprised him even further when Rufus reached past him and snagged one out of the packet. Rufus didn't usually smoke

"Bet your ass I did. The least of our worries would be to look a little under-guarded with our facilities. Better that than incompetent. One thing is for sure, we better be seen trying to get these bastards. Something very public would work very nicely for us right now. But then again, that could just make us look heavy handed." Rufus sighed, "Whatever happens, we want to end up looking like the good guys. Another incident like this could ruin our public image."

"Can't let that happen." Reno replied sarcastically. Rufus didn't seem to notice.

Rufus threw the half-smoked cigarette down onto the pavement and motioned for Reno to walk him back to his car.

"You see Tseng, you tell him to see me ASAP. I want a chance to talk to him before he sees the President. No telling what the old fart might do to save face. If he handles this like he has other things in the past, we may end up with nothing but ashes to live in. And I sorely doubt they'll be many of us who'll object to that in this company anymore."

"Don't be so hard on Reeve, Tseng and the others." Reno told him, "They've had a hectic week and little sleep. You can't blame them for going off."

Rufus opened his car door, turning back to Reno. "I suppose you're right." He got into his car and shut the door. "Keep your head out of trouble and be good Reno. These guys seemed to know what they were doing."

"Aren't I always good?" Reno remarked.

************

"I like this trend you have going with the causal Reeve." Kat remarked settling herself down into the other end of the lounge chair, tucking one leg up beneath her and setting her beer down on the coffee table.

"What?"

"You're clothes." Kat gestured.

"Oh." Reeve looked down at himself. "The way you made it sound in Junon made me think I didn't suit the casual look."

Kat smiled softly, "I said I didn't think you looked dressed. How could you think that was a negative comment?" 

For the first time that day, Reeve found himself chuckle. "Thanks. I think."

"It's good to see you laugh. I was kinda worried when I heard about the reactor. I thought you might take it badly." She admitted.

The smile slipped off his face. "I didn't take it well. A lot of lives were lost today."

"I didn't mean just in that way. Gods, I know I feel real bad about those people. I meant, not quite feeling badly, more like feeling guilty."

"How do you mean?"

"C'mon Reeve, I know you. One little thing goes wrong in this city and you immediately feel responsible. I thought you might have figured it was your fault or something. And I didn't want you to feel that way. The reactor didn't blow because it was faulty or under code, what happened was out of everyone's control."

"I know that. Those terrorists….Wait," Reeve stopped himself, "How did you know about that?"

"I hear things.' She said simply. 

"I don't feel guilty." Reeve told her. But his voice lacked the conviction he felt should have been there. He knew it wasn't his fault personally. But he couldn't help his earlier thoughts invading his mind.

__

"Has it really come to this? Do people hate us so much that they're willing to kill so many innocent people to strike at us?"

I /do/ feel guilty, Reeve realized. Not personally responsible as Kattie had implied, but responsible being a part of Shinra itself. Even if he knew Shinra wasn't responsible for it directly, they were what the terrorists were rebelling against. For such great lengths, there had to be some major reason for doing what they did. And Shinra were undoubtedly the cause of it. The company he oversaw the city for. The company he ran a small part of.

Kat must have saw the intense look of his face and become worried. She scooted up closer to him and took the beer bottle out of his clenched fingers and held his hand fast in her own.

"This is exactly what I meant." She said, "and you shouldn't feel this way. You're a good guy Reeve. A great guy."

"You don't have to try and cheer me up Kat. But you know, I wish sometimes that I didn't care about shit like this." For an unknown reason, an image of Reno suddenly popped into his mind. "I wish I could just see what needed to be done, and say to hell with the rest."

Kat seemed a little disturbed by his words and held his hand a little tighter. Reeve didn't seem to notice. "But you aren't like that. You /do/ care. That's who you are. It's not something to be ashamed of, it's something to be admired. It's something /I/ admire."

Something in Kat's speech seemed to catch Reeve's attention, making him focus back on the woman in front of him clutching his hand. It could have been what she said, or the emotion heard behind the words, but Reeve found himself unable to speak. It didn't really matter. Kattie wasn't about to give him a chance to reply. She leaned forward to brush her lips lightly against his. He let out a little surprised noise, but didn't seem to resist. She took that as permission to continue. She added pressure to the kiss, unconsciously drawing a reaction out of him, enough to get him to kiss her back. On her knees on the couch cushions, she leant into him, letting go of his hand and using both arms to brace herself up against the high arm of the couch behind him. The effect was to make him tilt his head up to her and allow their bodies to press slightly up against each other, her short skirt riding up her legs slightly as she moved one leg up in between Reeve and the back of the couch. 

With his head tilted back against the arm of the couch like that, Reeve found it impossible to pull away from her. She literally had him cornered. But what was he going to do if he did pull away? Was he going to stop what was going on? He wasn't sure. He liked Kat. But really only as a friend, a co-worker. She was his subordinate for gods sakes! But he couldn't deny how good it felt, being this close to someone again. To feel their touch, to feel another warm body pressed up against his. While it lacked the emotional element he so badly wanted, he was surprised to realize just how badly he wanted it at the moment. And he was under no delusions that this was just a little kiss on the couch. And he felt comfort in that. Kat wanted him. And he really wanted to let this run it's course. A few things nagged at him though. One; he didn't really want /her/. He wanted the comfort. Secondly; He was her boss, and ethically, this wasn't the best thing to be happening.

As gently as he could, he eased her away from his enough to free his mouth from hers. "Kat," He began.

But she quickly cut him off. "Don't go all Reeve on me." She warned, but she was smiling somewhat, "I'm not asking you to marry me here. This is something I've wanted to do for a while true, but I promise it goes no further. I know how office politics goes." 

"But I…"

"Just let go for one night. One little night. And fuck ethics." She leaned back over him, slightly to the side. She caught his earlobe lightly between her teeth and gave it a little nip before whispering, "And fuck me."

She moved one of her hands from behind him and reached down between their bodies to his belt. He groaned slightly as her hand, not so accidentally brushed the growing bulge in the front of his pants.

He knew there was a third point tickling the back of his mind, but the image soon slipped away as Kat's hand snaked in through his now open fly to caress him through his boxers. He decided it was probably just best in the end to take her advice.

***************************

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Notes: Alright, I know you all want to kill me now. But damnit, Yay for Kattie! The Gal that did what the great Scarlet could not! That deserves some applause. *Claps* Though I'm sure a few of you out there are pissed at me for giving up a night for sex and Reeve not doing it with Reno. The rest are probably just pissed cause I didn't keep going with that last scene with them on the couch. Oh well. 

*Sighs* well, the game is on well and truly. Reactor One is a husk and things are in motion for an emerging band of heroes to make their appearance. But who really cares about those heroes hey! We're going to follow OUR heroes, The Shinra boys! __

Stay tuned, it can only get toastier,

AF

anime_fearie@excite.com

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All stories can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar

http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie

__

Mailing list, fics, pics, and treats for the whole family…


	12. Interuptions

What You Do To Me

__

By AF.

****

Chapter 12

Interruptions.

Due to the terrorist attack by the group named AVALANCHE, parts of Midgar that were temporarily out of power will be restored momentarily.

Following President Shinra's lead, Mayor Domino also spoke out publicly against AVALANCHE

(Public News broadcast. 30th August 238.)

~~~

Today the Number One Reactor was bombed.

The terrorist group AVALANCHE has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

It is expected that AVALANCHE will continue its reign of terror.

But citizens of Midgar, there is no need to fear.

I have immediately mobilized SOLDIER to protect our citizenry against this senseless violence.

Thank you and Goodnight.

(Excerpt from a press conference held by President Shinra. 30th August, 238.)

~~~

Reno poured his coffee while simultaneously stifling a yawn. It kind of worked. He got at least half in the cup and half of it on the floor of the gas station. All present, including the guy behind the cash register pretended they hadn't noticed. He tried again.

"I loved that poetic piece of bullshit on the television last night." He told Rufus who was busy trying to look as though he wasn't actually with a man who would buy service station coffee, paper tucked underneath his arm, drumming his fingers on the edge of the counter. "Was your father's voice, but I assume you wrote it."

"Of course I wrote it," Rufus snapped, "Sometimes I doubt he ever does anything for himself anymore. Besides I feel more comfortable doing it. There are a lot of people this morning who are looking for someone to blame. We don't need Midgar thinking we are doing nothing about it."

Reno finally got enough coffee in the cup to call it full, stifled another yawn and reached for another cup. "Was it your idea to declare martial law?" Rufus' mood wasn't phasing him. Rufus had been in far worse moods for far longer. Reno was a little too used to it by now.

"No." Rufus answered almost in a sulk. "That was Heidigar's fantastic idea. I tried to tell them that we are trying to show the populace that /we/ are the good guys. I don't think trapping people in the city was a good idea."

Reno finished with the second cup and started over toward the counter, Rufus trailing sullenly behind him. 

"Will that be all?" The attendant asked.

Reno answered with yet another yawn and a nod of his head.

"Three ninety then."

As Reno paid up, Rufus finally let his angry expression go for long enough to look Reno over closely.

"How much sleep did you get?"

Reno paid up and picked up the two Styrofoam cups from the counter. "Sleep? What's that again?"

Reno hadn't actually had any sleep. He hadn't in fact, slept for over forty eight hours.

"No wonder you need two cups of coffee." Rufus commented opening the double glass doors for himself and Reno. Once outside in the parking lot, Rufus leant back on the bonnet of his car and looked his friend over again. "And you were going to walk to work?"

"No. And they're not both for me. One of them is a 'I was a prick and I'm sorry' present." Reno managed to stifle a yawn this time and therefore negated the inevitable little sway on his feet that usually accompanied it. It wasn't even the fact that he had been conscious for so many hours that was bothering him. It was the fact that it had been a very physical forty eight hours that was really making him want to curl up into a ball on the cement and sleep till tomorrow. He had stayed on sight at the number one reactor almost till dawn. After that he had been sent down to the slums for a fact finding mission. He had only gotten back onto the plates half an hour ago. His first stop had been to the gas station where he had met Rufus buying his morning paper.

Rufus eyed to coffee in Reno's hands dubiously. "And you're hoping /that/ coffee will compensate as a peace offering?"

Reno frowned, his hazy mind not taking in Rufus' point. "What's wrong with the coffee?"

Rufus shook his head and actually looked amused. "Reno you couldn't make friends with a bum with that kind of peace offering. It smells like it was made from the oil they put into cars. Being a service station it probably is." He added thoughtfully. 

Reno turned his frown back down to the coffee, and grimaced. "Th' best I can do. I have to go see Tseng this morning."

"Yeah, well spare a few minutes and get something decent. You'll have the time. I expect Tseng to be in /my/ office when I get there. He didn't report in last night. Need a lift somewhere?"

"Yeah. HQ." Reno answered trying to rub his eyes and not spill any coffee. "If you don't mind making a stop along the way."

"As long as you aren't too long." Rufus nodded. "Where to?"

"Reeve's." Reno told him moving toward the passenger side door. Rufus gave him a quizzical look but Reno shook his head. "Don't ask."

****

Two cups juggled in one hand, the other fumbling with a key, Reno had his hands full enough. He fairly swore when his PHS started to ring as well. He crouched down in front of the apartment door and set the coffee on the floor before digging his PHS out of the inside pocket of his jacket and flipping it open.

"Waiting won't kill you Tseng." Were Reno's first words into the phone.

"No." Came the pleasant reply. "But it annoys me immensely."

Clamping the PHS between his shoulder and his ear, Reno unlocked the door and picked up the coffee.

"I do my best Tseng. Is there a particularly large bug up your ass this morning or are you just ringing to tell me to hurry up?"

Reno went in and kicked the door closed behind him, wincing at the noise it made. Reeve didn't appear to be up. Not surprising really after last nights events. If Reeve still had been sleeping though, undoubtedly the door would have woken him. It just went further to reinforce Tseng's point that Reno could be irritating even when trying to apologize.

"You haven't had much sleep so I'll forgive the obnoxious tone." Tseng told him dryly. "But I need you in at work as soon as possible."

"If you're hoping on seeing me before seeing Rufus, therefore actually having something to tell him, your shit outta luck boss. Rufus is expecting you in his office when he gets there."

" And why am I out of luck?"

He could just leave the coffee on the bench with a note. Or he could take it in to him and see if he's awake.

"Because I'm catching a lift in with him."

He might as well take it in. Nothing like waking up to warm coffee. He'd appreciate it more, Reno was sure.

He began to weave his way toward the bedroom.

"Damnit Reno, I needed to know what you'd found out. You better tell me now."

Reno nudged the door the rest of the way open with his foot…and stopped.

Reeve was just waking up, just as he had predicted. What he hadn't predicted was that he was not waking up alone. A head with shortish dark hair rested, still apparently asleep on Reeve's bare shoulder. Reeve's eyes were open, but still fairly unfocussed. Until if course they lit upon Reno. Then they turned once to the head on his chest then back to the man standing in the doorway and widened dramatically.

"Reno! What are you doing here?"

Numbly, he gestured to the coffee in his hands, ignorant of the voice on the other end of his PHS. "I brought you coffee. To apologize." He was surprised his voice sounded so casual with the scene in front of him. Then it registered exactly what he was doing. "I'll leave it on the bench then." The told the other man, backing out of the room.

Once clear of the bedroom, he hurried over to the bench that separated the kitchen from the living area, set both cups of coffee down, and began walking toward the door. He could hear the sounds of someone rushing around the bedroom behind him, but it only made him quicken his steps. He really did not want to be confronted about this. Not when he was the one in the wrong. He was the one that had walked in uninvited using a key he'd been given a long time ago when circumstances had been very different. It was wrong of him to use it now that those circumstances had changed. All he had wanted to do was apologize to his friend by bringing him coffee in bed after he'd had a harsh night of work.

He was pretty much all the way down the hall toward the elevators before he heard an apartment door open and rushed footsteps down the hall behind him.

"Reno! Wait!"

Reno did stop, but only after Reeve had grabbed his arm to stop him completely. He must have hurried to put some clothes on. He was wearing only the same pair of sooty jeans he'd had on the night before.

"Sorry." Reno blurted automatically. "I should've knocked or something."

"Probably." Reeve agreed. "I didn't mean for you to see that."

Reno forced a smile. "It's not a scene I suppose you'd want a lot of people to see. Look it's cool. My bad."

"You're okay?" Reeve asked carefully.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

Reeve seemed to frown at that. "No reason I guess."

"Look, I can't be long. Rufus is waiting for me downstairs. I'll catch you later okay." He was amazed at how casual he sounded. He certainly didn't feel like being casual. 

Reeve nodded. "Thanks for the coffee."

"No problem." Reno caught Reeve's hand and pressed something into it before turning and disappearing into the open elevator.

Inside the elevator, he remembered about the PHS clasped tightly in his hand, and his boss still waiting on the other end. He put it back up to his ear.

"Look Tseng," his calm, casual voice was gone now, "don't blame me for you not having something to report to Rufus. I wasn't the one that went MIA for the entire fucking night. You were the one that disappeared, you fucking deal with it." And then promptly hung up.

When he finally slid back into the passenger seat of Rufus' car he was just about ready to chew through the seatbelt.

"And I thought you looked bad before." Rufus commented starting the car up.

"I'm such a fucking hypocrite." Reno said angrily. This time the anger was directed elsewhere though. This time it was focused purely and wholly on himself. 

"I could have told you that. But what brought the self realization on? The apology not go down too well?"

"You could say that. You could also say I've been well and truly put in my place on at least one matter."

"And how does that make you a hypocrite?"

Being in this car with Rufus was an uncomfortable reminder of exactly why. It still didn't make it any easier to swallow. Somehow it just seemed more different at the time.

"It just does."

*

Reeve re-entered the apartment and rested his back on the closed door. In his palm was a single silver key. The copy of his apartment key he had given to Reno a while back now. And Reno had just given it back. Hardly surprising if the guy thought he might end up walking into what he did this morning with any kind of regularity. Not that he was likely to. And had Reeve had the chance, he would have told Reno to keep it.

_Why? _The little voice in the back of his head asked. _There's no reason for him to have it anymore._

Still, he hadn't exactly thought of asking for it back either. Not even after the incident more than a year ago. 

Probably because asking for it back would have been a very final thing to do. A thing that Reeve was never inclined to bring about. And he still didn't understand why. Because Reno was still his best friend? Possibly. Hopefully that was the reason.

Kattie wandered out of the bedroom, seemingly oblivious as to what had just happened. She had been still asleep when Reno had blundered into the room. Reeve had woken her up getting out of bed to chase Reno down. She was dressed, hair combed back. 

"Ah coffee! You're a lifesaver Reeve." She exclaimed delightedly picking up one of the Styrofoam cups and taking a long sip. "Ah, bad coffee. But I still appreciate it." Cup in hand she snatched her bag off the couch and came over toward Reeve. "My shift starts soon. I'm gonna be late as it is." She shooed him away from the door, but not before planting a light kiss on his cheek. "Though I can't say it wasn't worth it." She added smiling mischievously. "See you at work."

Once she had left Reeve raked a hand through messy hair and looked at the silver key once more._ Of course he was shocked and probably hurt. But that doesn't matter. We're friends, nothing more. Never more. Not again. There's just nothing there anymore. How could there be? _Closing his hand around it he tightened his fist till he could feel the metal dig into his palm.

He sighed heavily.

"Who am I fucking kidding?"

***

Reno almost slinked into the office. All stealth. That was what was needed. Just on the off chance that Tseng outweighed the chance of pissing Rufus off with the need to chew Reno out over what Reno had said to him earlier. Hasty words spoken over the phone that Reno had regretted as soon as Rufus had pulled his car to a bone crunching halt in his parking space in the Building's garage. Hasty words that, while Reno still believed true, were more than likely going to end up with him pulling a months worth of weekend duty or bodyguard duty for Scarlet again the next time she left Midgar. He had meant every word, but that didn't mean he wished he hadn't said it.

He practically crept into the room and over toward his desk lest someone in the inner office heard him before he realized that Tseng wasn't in the inner office. He was rooting around Rude's desk for something and had raised his head to watch Reno in his sneaking act the entire time. When Reno turned to see Tseng's narrow eyed gaze, he almost jumped with the surprise. It took a lot to startle a Turk.

Tseng was still watching him with that eerie gaze that told Reno that his boss was forcefully repressing intense anger and waited for the inevitable blowing up.

But it never came. Tseng finished grabbing papers from Rude's desk before straightening up and heading toward the door.

"They're called Avalanche. Their base is most probably a bar in Sector Seven called Seventh Heaven. Avalanche has a known leader by the name of Barret Wallace. Most of the locals tend to think the owner of the bar Tifa Lockheart is also involved. They have five members in all and hire mercenaries to pick up the shortfall. I caught up with your informant in Sec Six last night. He couldn't get a message out beforehand, but he says he can make it up. He wants to meet with me later today." All delivered in a tone that made it sound like a simple 'I'm sorry.'

Tseng nodded. "Heidigar wants to see you." Translation; 'So you better fucking be'.

"Yes, Sir."

He watched Tseng fairly stalk out of the office and down toward the elevator banks and was still standing there standing at the door when Rude himself stalked in a couple of moments later. Reno's eyes widened a little at this. Rude didn't stalk, not matter what might be bugging him. Evidently, this was something /big/. Reno could guess what had happened.

"Maggie left." Rude's back tensed and he straightened even more if that were possible. 

"This morning." Was the curt acknowledgment. 

Reno rubbed a spot above his left eye. Maggie was gone. Left. Her and Rude had seemed like nothing would tear them apart. And she was a good friend. Reno knew how much he was going to miss her and could only know a tenth of what Rude must have been feeling.

"It's been that kind of a day." Reno muttered.

Rude grunted agreeing before he sat down heavily in his chair and stared at the papers that were covering it.

It had been that kind of a shitty day and it was only half past eight in the morning. How shittier could it possibly get? Then Reno remembered he had yet to see Heidigar and realized that it was only going to get worse. Before he could collect the rest of what he would need off his desk for the morning, A blond, cheery head poked inside the door. When she saw that Reno was in the office, she stepped fully inside and tried to scowl at him. "You said be in the gym at eight today or you'd skin me every day for the rest of the week."

Reno barely suppressed his irritation. He had fully forgotten about Elena's training this morning. "Actually I said if you failed to be there on time I'd make you walk around the building in nothing but your skin for a week."

Elena blushed a little but she managed to keep her chin up and eyes locked on Reno. "I'd like to see you try to enforce that threat." She was obviously a little amused at the 'joke' as well. "You were the late one though. Do the same penalties apply?"

"No." And before she could reply he went on, "Because I am the master and you are the student. And you aren't so along in your training to keep me from kicking your ass." He was still in a foul mood. She refused to take notice though.

"That's not what you said before you left. You said I was almost ready to be presented to Tseng for evaluation seeing as I've already gone through a year of training."

That's right. He had said that hadn't he.

"By the way," she continued having a peek around the office, "is Tseng in yet? If you're too busy…" Her words died off as she got a good look at the other Turk sitting, staring at nothing at his desk. "What's up with him?"

"A lot. And Tseng can't train you this morning so you'll have to find another opportunity to make moon eyes at him."

Elena's face reddened a little more. She never seemed to think that her little infatuation with the leader of the Turks was so obvious to everyone around her. And naturally she denied it whenever Reno bought it up. This time though, she surprised him with something different. "Why? You aren't jealous are you Reno?"

Reno was about to laugh at the notion but abruptly stopped himself. "I'm busy this morning but meet me in the gym this afternoon around five. In the meantime, go do," Reno made vague uninterested motions with his hands, "whatever it is you do. And I'll see you later."

When Reno was gone, Elena spent a few moments frowning at the door before sighing and taking a seat on the edge of Rude's desk.

"I really don't think he realizes that I don't actually do anything until he gives me something to do." She sighed.

Rude didn't answer. 

Elena watched him for a few more moments before saying, "What /is/ wrong with you? Honestly, everyone is acting so /strange/ this morning. I mean I know the reactor and everything has something do to with it. But everyone around here is acting as though their best friend was killed in the blast."

"It was a big explosion." Rude answered simply. "A lot of people died."

"It's not that I'm disbelieving of." Elena retorted. "I just don't believe that many people in Shinra have friends that's all."

Her joke didn't have the intended effect.

"C'mon," Elena prodded. "I bet I can help."

"I doubt that."

"Never say never."

"If Reno overlooked giving you something to do, I can if you like."

"Threatening me? Wow, this must be serious!"

Already fed up, Rude just went ahead and told her. When he was done, Elena seemed only surprised about one thing. 

"You have a girlfriend?"

"Had." Rude corrected.

"Goes to show that you never can pick a person. I'd had you figured for a diehard bachelor. And Reno the one with the girlfriends. Seems I got it the wrong way around." She paused for a moment. "What do you mean, 'had'?"

"She left me." Rude reminded.

"So? Doesn't mean you're finished. I mean after last night who hasn't thought of packing it in and moving to safer waters? I sure have. You can't deny that it hasn't gotten a little dangerous around here lately. Everyone's noticed it in the last year or so. Anyway, she probably wouldn't have asked you to come with her if she just simply wanted to end it."

Rude spent a few moments thoughtfully thinking this over before ultimately shaking his head. "It's probably for the best. She'll be in less danger now. I can give her up if it means she'll be safe."

Elena gave him a broad grin. "Wow. I didn't think men actually thought that way outside the stories. I'm impressed."

Rude gave her an unimpressed look.

"I'm not teasing you." Elena assured. "I think it's really sweet. She should've known what a catch she was leaving behind. Danger or not, she's stupid for doing it."

Now Rude looked a little bewildered. 

Sensing her work here was done, Elena hopped off the desk, gave Rude's bald head a fond pat. "I better get going. See you later."

He watched her leave, a thoroughly confused expression on his face. "Well, that was odd."

***

"You wanted to see me Sir?"

"Ah yes, Reno. Come take a seat."

To be honest, Reno didn't actually spend all that much time in Heidigar's office. He may've been in charge of the Turks as far as the President and the general populace were concerned, but he paid little to no attention when it came to the day to day running of the Turks. He gave orders to Tseng, and Tseng saw them carried out. More often than not, those orders came straight from Rufus anyway and skipped Heidigar entirely. No, to run the Turks you only really needed two men. Rufus and Tseng. Therefore, whenever Reno /was/ ordered up to see Heidigar, he could be pretty sure that he was in trouble. Not all the time, but usually. It wasn't by chance that only Rude had ever been in Heidigar's presence once when he was inducted, and once more when Reno had been suspended, while this was probably Reno's fifth or sixth visit. And for a sixth visit in four years, Reno had broken a new record in the ranks, only being beaten out by one earlier Turk who happened to be a drunken, psychopath who had turned out to be a traitor and near serial killer. Among other things. In the six or so years that guy had served, he been ordered up to see Heidigar seven times. Reno was not hopeful.

Heidigar made a show of shuffling some papers, all blank, Reno noticed, before giving the Turk his full attention. 

"Now, as you may have noticed, we're in trouble."

Reno almost didn't catch the key word there. "We?"

"Shinra, Reno. The Number One bombing was a courageous leap for these terrorists. Never have they tried something so bold. Never have they racked up so many casualties in one hit. I must admit, this has caused some concern for the President and myself."

Well Reno wasn't sure how to respond. He had thought he had come up here to be berated, not as well, an equal. He was shocked.

"I have been told the latest rate hike has but a lot of people on edge." Reno informed his boss trying not to sound as surprised as he felt. "Sir."

Heidigar's eyes fairly glinted as he leant across the desk and gazed at Reno. "But you know different, don't you Reno."

"I wouldn't say different. 'More' is probably more apt."

"I see." Heidigar leant back a little. "I assume that Tseng is off now giving his report to the Vice-President. Would I be also correct in assuming that whatever Tseng is reporting, he got off you?"

Reno almost winced. It was true, but Reno was loathed to admit it. It wouldn't look good. 

"Some Sir." Reno responded as respectfully as he could. 

"I think you do yourself an injustice Reno. I know well that Tseng was not off on a fact finding mission last night. Rather he sent you and Rude off and then decided to go visit a girl he knows."

Reno bit the inside of his mouth to stop a reaction. Of any sort. Whether he was to get angry at Tseng, Heidigar or both, it probably wasn't a good idea to show what he was thinking. 

"He was doing his job Sir. Checking up on a possible candidate. We've had to follow those up to make sure none of them decided to up and move after the explosion. Two current candidates were killed in the blast as well."

Heidigar waved off Reno's protests rather casually. "No need to defend your leader's actions Reno. There is no need. Tseng was given an unofficial duty to protect and keep and eye on this girl. It is no excuse for his disappearing at such a time last night, but I have no want to reprimand him too heavily for it. No Reno, I have other ideas. It is true though that over the years he may have grown a little too protective over this girl. Running off in the middle of a catastrophe like last night only goes to show that I'm right. And considering who and what the girl is, I find it increasingly needful to release him from this duty and give it to someone a little more, shall we say, dynamic."

"Me." Reno guessed.

"Yes. The time for treating this girl with kid gloves is over. We need her now. In the past, we have sent Tseng to her with requests. We can no longer afford such pleasantries. I want you to bring her in."

Reno knew it was not his position to, but he asked anyway. "Can I ask why?"

"Usually no. But I think the situation may warrant it this time. You know this girl I speak of yes?"

Reno did. He knew what she looked like, knew where she lived. He'd accompanied Tseng a couple of times to check up on her. There could be no one else the older man was referring to.

"Aeris Gainsborough."

"Very good Reno. Yes, Aeris is an Ancient."

Reno's eyes widened a little at this. "An Ancient? Like in those little kiddy books."

"They do exist." Heidigar assured. "Or at least Aeris does. For all we know, she is the last. And she is half human at that."

"And you want me to go pick up this half human, half fairytale and bring her in." Reno couldn't help the sarcasm.

"Yes I do. Think of this as one of your 'extra' duties. You should remember me talking about those. You may find in the future I will have more need of you for such tasks. Especially with these terrorists running around. What is the name of their group?"

"Avalanche." Reno answered.

"Avalanche, yes. I don't suppose you were able to glean any future plans while you were wandering around the slums last night. Something that perhaps you were unable to report to Tseng?"

"Only what I couldn't be sure of." Reno replied cautiously.

"Assumptions of your own? I would like to hear them."

Reno sighed. There was no point in telling the stupid bastard that this was nothing solid and only things Reno guessed at.

"Well my informant hinted that perhaps the group wasn't finished. I think they may be planning to bomb another reactor Sir."

"Can you confirm this?"

Was it just Reno, or did Heidigar actually look excited at the prospect? 

"Not at present Sir. I should be able to affirm or dispute later in the day."

"Good. Report to me when you know the details. You can start the other assignment after you find out." Heidigar told him opening a side drawer and rustling around in it.

If that wasn't a dismissive statement, nothing was. Reno stood up just as Heidigar added. "Oh and Reno, you remember the aspects of these 'extra' duties don't you?"

"I report directly to you and only take orders regarding them off you or the President." Reno recited. He was kind of surprised that he remembered. 

"And the other Turks?"

Reno set his jaw then replied, "Don't need to know. Sir."

******

Reno pushed his shades further up onto his nose and continued to wait. He had been waiting here for at least twenty minutes, and he himself had been late. He was prepared to wait another twenty minutes before he started off to find the guy. That was, if he didn't fall asleep. Leaning against the building comfortably, he had spent most of the time while waiting, yawning. He still hadn't managed to find any time to catch some sleep. 

It was midday now. He'd spent his entire morning setting things up so he could even /leave/ the tower. That, other than having to go see Heidigar, tracking down El and giving her something to do. Writing up a report, apologizing to Tseng, mollifying Rufus, avoiding Urban Development and just generally being pissed off at the world. Also, thanks to his 'extra' duties, he'd had some reading to do regarding his new charge. He had been tempted to plead insanity to Heidigar. That when he'd taken the job he'd have been willing to do anything to keep his job short of castrating himself, but refrained. Heidigar wanted his little pet Turk with questionable morals and sanity and probably wouldn't have been open to the idea of Reno refusing. Not even if Reno considered himself to be not quite as insane as when he took the job. Especially not now, not after everything he had already done.

So involved in his tired musings, he almost missed the sound of someone approaching the alley where he was standing. Almost. 

"Took your time." Reno told him as the guy stepped into the alley. The other man almost jumped with fright at the voice. 

Reno shook himself awake and stepped out of the partial shadows he had used to hide himself. The other man looked around nervously.

"I'm alone." Reno assured. "Even made a special trip home first so I wasn't wearing my uniform. You sure are one apprehensive bastard Biggs."

Biggs snatched the bandanna off his head and used it to mop his forehead. "Can you blame me? Look Reno, I know I'm 'sposed to help you out and everything, but things are getting a little tense. I mightn't be able to meet you again. I had to sneak out while they were sleeping like some….some…."

"Rat?" Reno supplied with a hint of a smile. "You are a rat Biggs. That's what you get paid for. By Shinra and by your boss. Speaking of him, how is Rankin these days?"

"Doesn't miss you. And he's just as worried about this group as you are." Biggs replied. "I mean it though, I'm not cut out for this."

"Sure you are. You're an infiltrator."

"Yeah, an infiltrator that's as good as dead if he gets caught. There's some good souls in this group, but two of 'em make me real nervous."

"Believers are they?"

"Realists Reno." Biggs corrected. "Environmentalists really. Though I think two of them are avengers."

"Yeah, I heard the story. Shinra done me wrong so I'm gonna blow up a piece of heavily populated city in revenge." Reno replied in a bored tone.

"They got their reasons." Biggs shot back. "Good ones for the most part."

"Not getting soft on this merry bunch of heroes are you?"

"Let's just say I can see their point. But I agree that it still don't justify the deaths. Still, they have one thing above Shinra. Shinra do the killing, but they don't have as good reasons. Not near."

"My heart bleeds. So is it this Wallace that has you so scared?"

"Kind of. But he's not so bad once you get to know him. To tell you the truth I'm more scared of the other guy."

"What other guy?" Reno asked confused running a mental list through his head of the known members of the group. He had them memorized now. "Wedge?"

"Not hardly. No, it's this merc Miss Lockheart picked up." Biggs leaned conspiratorially forward to whisper, even though no one else was around, "He's an Ex-Soldier."

Well Reno was suitably impressed. "You don't say? Does he have a name?"

"Cloud. Cloud Strife. Doesn't care a fig about anything other than money. And he has those glowing Soldier eyes," Biggs shuddered, "enough to give even you the willies I'd think. He's a pretty good fighter too, tell you the truth. You just see him unlimber that big Buster Sword and step back you know."

Reno seemed nonplussed. "Well if he's ex-Shinra there should be records. I'll see what I can get on him. Anything else?"

"Yeah." Biggs answered reluctantly. "You know what I was hinting about last night? Well, it's going ahead. Jesse has everything rigged to go. Passes, codes, everything. Tonight."

"That soon?" Reno asked surprised. "These guys really are serious aren't they."

"You can say that again. And I still haven't figured out how Jesse gets those codes either. For all I know, she breaks them herself."

"Could be." There was a small thoughtful silence before, "Which one?"

"The Number Five. They should get there by midnight easy."

"Alright. You better get back. Tell Rankin I'll have the money sent the usual way. Keep an eye on your PHS but, we may not need you after this if you catch my meaning."

Biggs took a deep breath and slowly nodded. "Yeah alright. They aren't such bad people Reno. They're just too angry with Shinra to do much good."

"Yeah well, now Shinra are too angry with them to bother wondering how nice they might be when they aren't blowing up pieces of Midgar."

"It stinks Reno. All of it. Shinra, everything."

"You got that right." Reno agreed making his way towards the mouth of the alleyway. "Keep your head down Biggs."

"Yeah you too Reno."

Reno had barely got out of the alley before flipped open his PHS and dialing Heidigar's office. He felt a nasty pang of regret that it wasn't Tseng's number he was dialing. "Sir, it's official. The Number Five. Tonight…"

********

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Notes: This time is that I typed too much for this chapter and had to cut it up and will have to add a few bits to the next. Jeez, if I keep going like this, I'll have more chapters than I thought there would be. We'll see. 

Neway, I hope things aren't moving too quickly. They shouldn't be considering what the original chapter looked like. Past bads are creeping up on Reno certainly, not to mention Tseng. Poor Reno. Well if you want to know what happens next, you'll just have to read the next chapter won't you? 

*giggles*

AF

anime_fearie@excite.com

__

All stories can be found on the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar

http://www.geocities.com/anime_fearie

__

Be afraid, be very afraid…


	13. Not Again

What You Do To Me.

By AF Chapter 13 

Not Again.

            Reeve stood and brushed the ash from his hands onto the seat of his pants while he surveyed the area around him. He couldn't deny that the destruction didn't look worse by day, but it also didn't look half as bad as he imagined it might either. The last speck of daylight had vanished a good five or so hours ago. He was forced to admit that his predecessor, the man who had designed the reactors, had done an impeccable job of it. They were sturdy and tough even after all these years of use. Even the oldest of the eight, the Number One remained relatively intact after the attack. Still, it would be a while before they got it working again. 

            So far his shift at the site had gone fairly smoothly. The risk of mako poisoning had been put to rest. Whatever leaks there were, weren't large enough to cause even the slightest amount of harm to the work crew. Though some of his department still griped about the chances. The man standing next to him was doing just that. 

            "I just hope that six months from now I don't start glowing like a firefly, that's all I'm saying."

            "We've ruled out any possibility of poisoning Jeff. Let it go."

            But Jeff was adamant. The wiry man crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his boss sternly. "Why should I? Do you think Shinra would give hazard pay to us for this?"

            "They are."

            Jeff apparently decided to ignore that. "And what happens on that fateful day you start to notice that little glow in your eye huh? What then? You can't sue Shinra. You try and you'll end up owing /them/ money. You just watch."

            "You're not going to glow." Reeve told him. "No one is going to be poisoned. We've determined that. I have double-checked personally. You might as well complain about getting sun damage for working on site."

            Jeff looked thoughtful for a moment. "Now that you mention it-"

            Reeve pointed a finger at his subordinate as if he were scolding a child. "Jeff, no."

            Jeff sighed a shrugged in submission. "I just wished they'd mentioned contingences like this in the brochure is all. Know what I mean?"

            "I don't think they'd quite imagined that their reactors might be blown up when they were hiring." Reeve noted as they walked over toward where Urban Development had set up a temporary headquarters on-site. There was ample floodlights for them to find their way easily. Most of his crew had broken for dinner by now.

            Jeff sat down on one of the camp chairs and opened a brown paper bag. As he did so, the smell of fresh bread and cheese assaulted Reeve's nose. He hadn't even been aware he was hungry till now. He hadn't even bothered to pack anything thinking he wouldn't be hungry.

            "What's that?" Jeff asked around a mouthful of bread and cheese, pointing with his half eaten sandwich to the main desk. 

            Amongst the blueprints and assorted papers sat a similar brown bag to Jeff's. Another heavenly smell of bread and ham was wafting up from the bag. 

            "Probably some one's dinner." Reeve replied trying to busy himself with one of the blueprints and ignore the bag of delightful smells. 

            "S'got a tag on it. With your name. Looks like it was delivered."

            Not even Reeve could read the name on the bag and he was considerably closer than Jeff. "How can you…never mind. I didn't order anything."

            But Reeve was intrigued. Seeing that the tag on the side did indeed have his name printed on it. Opening the bag he saw a huge sandwich sitting there along with a bottle of ice-tea and a note.

            Hey Reeve,

Knew you wouldn't have prepared anything yourself. Got to keep your strength up and everything. Just take care of yourself okay?

Your friend,

Kattie.

            Reeve looked at the note for a little while in confusion. He didn't even hear Jeff creeping up behind him to read the note over his shoulder.

            "What's up with Kat lately anyway? That smile on her face has been lethal. You got something going on with her or what?"

            Belatedly, Reeve folded the note back up again and gave Jeff his best unimpressed look. "No."

            "Don't get all defensive. Was just a simple question."

            "Yeah well, what if I were to ask you about that woman in the Science Department?"

            Jeff grinned. "What, that one I'm married to?"

            Well so much for Reeve trying to stay up to date with office gossip.

            Jeff continued, "Relax, I'm just ribbing. Look Kat's just being a mother hen as per usual. You know what's she's like. Everybody suffers it sooner or later. Just you more than most cause yous two are friends. She's been doing it forever."

            "I know. I'm just-"

            Reeve never got a chance to finish his sentence. A quiet rumbling filled the air for a few seconds. A couple of things on the table in front of Reeve rattled before a larger shorter burst of noise filled the tent. It was still quite dull, as if it were on the other side of the city. Before he quite knew what he was doing he was sprinting out of the tent and up the nearest mound of debris, Jeff on his heels. Once he reached the summit, he scanned the horizon over the city. From almost directly across the city a plume of orange smoke ignited the air, hurling itself upwards into the night sky. The rumbling continued but had died down significantly now. Reeve just stared at the cloud of fire as it turned into darker ash and started falling. His eyes were wide, jaw slack. He knew what had happened in an instant, but he still couldn't comprehend the 'why' of it. Words like, 'more', 'again' and 'no' kept circling his mind keeping it in a state of utter shock. 

            "Was that the Number Five?" Jeff asked numbly from behind him.

            Reeve could only nod. Nod and stare. 

            He asked himself quietly, "What are we doing?" 

*****

            Reno heard the blast a little more significantly from where he was. He had been riding in a truck bound for the sector five slums when the reactor above their heads went up causing tremors to run through the ground and shake the truck and everyone inside it. They didn't feel any heat nor could they see the destruction from where they were. But they had sure felt it. 

            When the ground stopped shaking and everything quietened down, Reno casually nodded to the driver who started the truck up again and got it moving. Silently he was fuming though. There really was no reason to allow the bomb to blow. They could have waylaid the terrorists at the core before they set up the bomb, but Heidigar had insisted that they should wait until they had set the bomb and were on their way out. With luck the bombers could be held up and conveniently caught in the blast of their own making. Reno was still getting over the idea behind that thinking. Why not just capture them and kill them? Simple, neat, clean and you would be left with a functioning reactor as opposed to a twin smoking husk like the Number One. Not to mention cutting down of the rest of the undoubted casualties. 

            "Hey Reno, don' look so down. You look worried. We just gotta get this one chick. It'll be easy."

            Reno raised an eyebrow at the blue suited trooper sitting on the opposite bench of the truck, grinning at him. The guy talked to him like he was an old buddy, but as far as Reno was concerned, he'd never met him before.

            One of the other two remaining troopers he knew. Charlie. He knew Charlie from way back when he had first come to work for Shinra. During his, uh, reputation making days. Charlie looked like he was trying to suppress a laugh at the apparent friendliness of the other man. Reno liked Charlie, being a Turk didn't appear to impress the trooper one little bit. However, it also didn't stop the guy from being a little cold sometimes toward the Turk. He'd always seemed to have that problem disassociating Reno from his job. Though, Reno reflected, that probably wasn't such a bad decision on Charlie's part. 

            "Yeah Reno," Charlie intoned, "How hard would it be for you to pull one young women huh?"

            Reno fought the urge to bite back at the comment. Tseng kept drumming into him how important it was to remain professional in the eyes of subordinates. But it didn't stop him from having a quiet word to the underling as he and Charlie hopped out of the truck down the street from their destination. 

            "Keep going and I'll have you assigned to reactor duty for the duration of this terrorist problem."

            Charlie just gave him an unimpressed smile and started organizing the other two troopers. Reno didn't wait to see and started heading down the street toward the familiar site of the Sector Five Slums church grounds. He'd been here a few times with Tseng in the past. But never for long, and never with an expressed interest in kidnapping. Evidently though, the higher-ups were had run out of patience with Tseng's coaxing methods. Reno couldn't really blame them. Even he had been able to see that this Aeris girl was never going to leave her home willingly to go to Shinra. And Reno really couldn't blame her. He hadn't been too thrilled with the idea himself at his own recruitment, and he didn't have the same threats hanging over his head as this girl did. Reno knew full well what was going to happen to this girl and he was pretty sure she did too. He really couldn't blame her for not wanting to come.

            But it wasn't like he was going to let her go either. 

            Mounting the rotting front steps outside, he walked in through the leaning doorframe and stopped in the isle a little way in. He could hear the troopers following him and immediately put up his hand to halt them behind him. After all, he hadn't expected the girl to have a visitor.

            "The name's Cloud. Me? I do a little bit of everything."

            Reno pursed his lips and stayed put listening to the conversation. Sooner or later he'd be noticed, but there was something about this guy, something unusual. 

            He was handsome, Reno supposed, in a little blond, short, kinda unusual way. Though he was probably about the same age as Reno, Reno couldn't help but think how young this kid looked. 

            The brunette form of Aeris giggled at the young man's (Cloud was it?) statement. "Oh…a jack of all trades?"

            He could never understand what it was about Aeris that made him cringe. Probably had to do with that all too innocent look. Big green eyes and a warm expression.  People just weren't meant to look that wholesome. 

            The young man, Cloud, nodded at Aeris' question. "Yeah, I do whatever's needed. What's so funny? What are you laughing at?"

            "Sorry I just…"

            It was at that point that Reno was noticed standing at the back of the church. Well, it was bound to happen. He wasn't accomplishing anything by eavesdropping.  Aeris' eyes widened slightly when she saw Reno. He saw her do a quick scan of those with Reno and saw her become a little confused. Then a little worried. Reno realized she had been looking for Tseng. And she knew what it meant that he wasn't here.

"Aeris, you can't keep lying to yourself." Tseng told her calmly, crouching down before her while she went about tending her garden.

_            "I'm not lying." She responded stubbornly, not even lifting her eyes from her task._

_            Tseng sighed and tried again. "I've told you this before. You're a very special girl Aeris-"_

_            Aeris stood up suddenly and started cleaning her hands off on her dress with quick angry movements. "Yes you've told me! You keep telling me. I don't care what you think! And I want you to leave me alone."_

_            Tseng straightened up much more slowly looking very weary. "You know I can't do that."_

_            "Well, don't come to the house anymore. You're upsetting Mom."_

_            "Very well." Tseng conceded. "Will you promise to think about what I've told you? You can't keep doing this forever."_

_            "I'm not promising you anything Tseng! How stupid do you think I am?"_

_            Aeris turned her back and stalked off toward the back door, not once looking back. The door slammed shut after her leaving the two Turks alone in the main room of the church. Tseng sighed once more and looked down at the garden by his feet._

_            "I don't understand." Reno spoke from a couple of paces behind his boss. "If she's wanted so much, why don't we just snap her up and haul her off?"_

_            "It's a bit more complicated than that Reno." Tseng told him quietly._

_            "Complicated how? She's just another slum rat. And I know how  uncaring the Shinra are about them by experience lemme tell you."_

_            "You and I both know there is no such thing as 'just a' anything when referring to a person. You are from around here. You are not 'just a slum rat' are you Reno."_

_            "Pull the other one."_

_            Tseng shook his head and toed the dirt by his feet with a polished dress shoe. "Look at these flowers. Amazing aren't they?"_

_            A little put off by his boss' sudden change in topic, Reno took a little while to respond. "Not really. They're just flowers. I remember seeing my first real tree when I came up here on my first topside mission. And I'll tell you, I found them a little overrated."_

_            "Do you know that any of the public gardens up on the Plates are grown in soil that had to be bought in from Kalm?"_

_            "Should I?"_

_            Tseng ignored him and went on, "It's because they can't use the soil from around Midgar. It's utterly infertile. This church, is the only place in Midgar where they grow naturally. From the very infertile dirt beneath our feet. A special place in amongst the rest of the garbage where a flower can bloom. She does dig them up when they are ready and replants them in her own garden, but they don't last all that long. Not even with such careful attention. It would seem that when they are removed from their natural environment here, they just slowly wither and die." Now Tseng made the point of turning back to Reno with a pointed look. "Do you understand what I mean?"_

_            Reno reluctantly nodded, not all that sure really but not offering any more arguments. _

            Only now he knew really what had Tseng meant. A fact Aeris only knew too well. 

            "Sorry, bad timing on my part. Say Cloud. Have you ever been a bodyguard? You CAN do anything right?"

            Cloud followed Aeris' gaze and scratched his head. "Yeah, that's right."

            "Then, get me out of here. Take me home!"

            Cloud's eyes turned back to her, a slight smile curved his lips. "OK…but it'll cost you."

            Reno rolled his eyes. But to his surprise the girl seemed to be thinking his question over. 

            "OK then," she responded after a few seconds, "let's see…"  She gave him a shy smile before continuing, "How about if I go out with you once?"

            This had gone on about long enough. The kid was armed, and Reno wanted this done with as quickly as possible. He started forward, motioning the guards behind him as Cloud nodded.

            Cloud turned slightly toward Reno and stared hard at the Turk. "I don't know who you are, but…" Reno watched a little perturbed as Cloud lowered  and shook his head. "You don't know me…" Cloud raised his eyes once more and took another step forward. "Oh yeah…I know you." He looked more confident about it now. Reno was beginning to think the kid was nuts or something. "That uniform…"

            It was apparently enough for the troopers behind him, he could hear them sniggering at the apparent lunatic addressing Reno. Reno moved a little in order to see past him to address Aeris. Had Aeris seen her would be rescuer fumbling with his memory?

            "…Hey sis, this one's a little weird." Reno told her allowing a smirk.

            Cloud cut his comment off with a sudden gesture. "Shut up! Shinra spy!"

            Charlie had clearly seen the aggravated foe and asked, "Hey Reno! Want him taken out?"

            Still a little sore at the trooper, and more than willing to aggravate the situation further Reno turned back to him and replied, "I haven't decided yet." In his best indifferent tone. 

"Don't fight in here! You'll ruin the flowers!" Reno turned back in time to see Aeris run toward the back of the church. He got a very bad feeling then. Aeris often disappeared out that way when the Turks came. And she never reappeared while they were there either.  "The exit is back there." She called to Cloud, motioning toward the door.

Reno felt like swearing. But he held off running after them now that he realized what had been off about the kid. (Apart from his indecisiveness). 

"Those were…Mako eyes." This was a little too coincidental for Reno's tastes. Avalanche had just let a bomb off in the reactor above them apparently with their hired ex-Soldier merc along and here was a sword wielding, mako infused, jack of all trades as Aeris put it, playing bodyguard. 

_Oh,_ Reno thought sarcastically_, this just gets better and better._

Dimly he heard the troopers shuffling cautiously behind him. "Yeah, all right. C'mon, get to work." As they started forward, Reno stopped them, "Oh! And don't step on the flowers."

If he hadn't been so dazed about this newest revelation, he might have realized his mistake. 

"Hey, you just stepped on them yourself!"

"They're ruined!"

Reno ignored the rest of it and started forward again, now thoroughly regretting bringing them as backup mako infused, sword wielding mad man or not, sometimes they just weren't worth the headache. 

The back of the church was an eye opener. It must have been three levels tall with a rotting staircase leading up to the rafters above. That was apparently where the two targets were heading when Reno spotted them. Stopping near the doorway he pointed to where Aeris and Cloud were stopped.

"There they are, over there!"

They seemed to be having a conversation up near a portion of the building whose landing had been broken up leaving them a decent jump between where they stood and escaping up into the rafters. He didn't want to wait and find out whether Aeris could make the jump or not after watching the Soldier flunkie go over.

"The Ancient is getting away! Attack! Attack! Attack!"

There was the almost deafening sound as the three Troopers opened up around him, firing at the two above. Some of the bullets came very close to the girl and Reno winced. Somehow he didn't think Heigigar would be too pleased if he came back with a corpse.

"Eaygh!"

Reno watched as Aeris fell from the ledge above and slid down a pipe into the floor below them. Her scream told him that she was more or less all right. If she'd been shot she wouldn't have screamed as she fell. 

"Think we killed 'em?" Reno asked a tad nervously as he peered down toward the next floor and where the girl had landed. He saw Charlie give him an odd look from out the corner of his eye and quickly straightened up. "They never should've fought us."

Reno quickly dispatched his troopers down to claim her. This was turning into quite a circus. 

"Cloud help!"

At the mention of his name, Reno raised his head to look back up and the blond man on the level above. After an apparent argument with himself he yelled back down to her, "RUN!" Right before he made a mad dash upstairs and out of Reno's sight.

Reno breathed a small sigh of relief. It looked like the guy was making a dash for it. Good. One less hassle to worry about. 

A few moments later though his thankful thoughts were interrupted by a crash from above and a wooden barrel falling from the rafters into the room below. He heard one of his troopers curse as it came crashing down but it missed its target quite easily. Unfortunately, the nearest trooper, distracted by the barrel scored a wack across the head from the thin staff in the girl's hands and slumped to the ground.

Reno was just about to go down there to help the men out when another barrel came from above. This one though, caught its mark. The girl was able to escape past the flattened trooper and dodge a third before Reno could even get to the edge and jump down to help.

So instead the leaned back against the wall, dug out a cigarette and watched the girl speed up the stairs and disappear from sight. He shook his head and lit his cigarette before pulling out his PHS. 

Outnumbered, they had still managed to win past Reno and his troopers. Heidigar was not going to be happy. Nor was Tseng when he found out Reno had been ordered to go after Aeris despite him failing. And to top it all off, Reno realized he had just let an Avalanche terrorist escape.

"Yeah," He said into the PHS as it was picked up, "It's Reno. I'm gonna need an ambulance down here when you can. There's two," Reno paused and eyed the guard Aeris had dodged with a less than satisfied look, "make that three troopers down."

Hanging up, he gestured to the remaining trooper with his cigarette. "I want to have a word."

*****

            Rufus stopped in his tracks as he entered his office. Stopped and stared for a good few minutes at the man standing against the windows behind his desk, glaring at him. It wasn't till the coffee mug in his hand started burning his fingers did he move. But the time he's put his coffee down he'd recovered enough from his surprise to sound properly irritated.

            "Is there something I can do for you Reeve?"

            Reeve, apparently fresh from the reactor site considering the state of his clothing crossed his arms over his chest. 

            "You can start by telling me what the hell is going on."

            This is what had first surprised Rufus. The open anger on the other man's face was so unusual that it began to unnerve him. Not that he would show it.

            "Demands Reeve? I hope there's good reason why you are in here making demands of your superior."

            "Don't pull that shit with me Rufus!" Reeve said angrily. "There is a group of terrorists out there who seem to think so badly of us that they would destroy two reactors to make their point. And what's worse is that when I came in here to get answers I find you gone and the drafts for the press statements lying on your desk."

            "That is what I do Reeve. It's part of my job."

            "Oh? The reactor blew up at about midnight." Reeve's eyes flashed, "The guards downstairs told me you'd been gone since half past eleven!"

            Rufus rolled his eyes. "So?"

            "What do you mean 'so?' You knew about the reactor before it blew! You let all those people die!"

            "I'm not a terrorist Reeve." Rufus reminded calmly. "I didn't kill all those people."

            "It was a trap for them wasn't it?" Reeve asked pushing himself away from the window. "Well I hop it worked because it still wouldn't justify you allowing that bomb to blow." Reeve finished stalking toward the door.

            Rufus caught his arm as he passed and pulled the man roughly around to face him. "What is all this 'you' talk?" Rufus asked fiercely. "Do I need to remind /you/ that while the President's name is on your paycheck you belong to Shinra?" There is only 'we' in this company. You need to remember that."

            "That's something that can easily be remedied." Reeve shot back, pulling his arm free.

            "There are stakes in this you don't even understand. We can't allow ourselves to be halted just for a handful of fanatics."

            "What stakes? What prize could possibly be worth all this death?"

            Rufus sighed now suddenly weary. "You're lucky the President now wants all the top executives in on this, otherwise I wouldn't be able to tell you. I held back with you because I didn't know how you'd react. But before I tell you, I want you calm and composed."

            "I am calm!" Reeve snapped.

            Rufus didn't even dignify that statement with arguing. "Sit down."

            Reeve hesitated.

            Rufus wasn't the most patient man at the best of times. At the moment, with everything stirred up, he was even more irritable. "I said, sit!"

            When Reeve was seated, Rufus began his story. "You've been working on the Neo-Midgar Project for how long now?"

"Since you hired me." Reeve answered obviously. "What the hell's that got to do with anything?"

            "It's got everything to do with everything." Rufus answered pointedly. "And I do mean everything."

            Reeve's brow creased as he groped for the meaning behind Rufus words. After a few minutes he understood the look. "Kramer?"

            Rufus nodded taking a seat behind his desk. Leaning forward and stapling his fingers Rufus looked over them at Reeve intently. "I want to tell you a little story. It's a story about Soldiers, Ancients and Mako. But only if you are ready to listen."

            "I'm ready to listen to anything that might provide some answers." Reeve answered steadily. "But how did you find out about Kramer? We've been working on that for months. And why didn't you tell me?"

            "I didn't tell you because I didn't think you needed to know. I also didn't think it would be something you might want to know. But that want seems moot now for reasons I'll soon come to. Suffice to say at this point that Mr. Kramer poked his nose into something it really ought to not be in. I believe now that he discovered that our Science Department has been the recipient for gross over funding for quite a number or years now. All Presidential approved I might add. The only reason the real funding wasn't in the quarterly reports is that such amounts were not allowed to be made public. Not even to our own workers. Questions would be asked."

            "Of course they would be!" Reeve interrupted heatedly. "There's no reason the Science Department would need such extravagant funds. You'd have to wonder where all that money was going."

            "Precisely! And those were question nobody was willing to answer. The answers are, shall we say, a little less than humanitarian. I believe Kramer found out where those funds were going and what they were doing with them."

            Reeve sat forward a little. "What are they doing?"

            "Tests. I suppose that's the best way of putting it. You know about the Soldier Program don't you?"

            Reeve nodded. "Shinra's elite. They're infused with high doses of mako in order to make them faster and stronger. Something similar to what they've done with a few Turks in the past."

            Rufus sat back and raised an eyebrow at this.

            "Reno told me." He explained. "He said it wasn't uncommon."

            "Reno was being vague. He knows that the practice isn't all that common amongst the Turks. Reno was infused following an…accident that would have otherwise killed him when he was still a rookie.  Common practice is not to have two Turks working at the same time that have been infused. The infusions are reputed to have some regretful effects on the subject's mind. Tseng's infusion wasn't to save his life, his was a test. An excellent subject considering his age when he first joined. In the past he has had similar problems attributed to most subjects though. However Tseng was able to overcome them as was believed he would. They would have never willingly accepted Reno as a subject had Tseng not forced the issue before they were able to determine whether he was mentally capable. It's considered too high a risk to have unstable Turks wandering around. They're too well trained, too deadly to be a liability. But all this is small potatoes when you are talking about Soldiers. The mako infusions are so intensive that they have to be carried out within a reactor. Neither Tseng, nor Reno went through that."

            Reeve though was still stuck on one particular point. "A liability? What do you mean? Are you telling me that these infusions are the reason behind Reno…" Unable to finish that sentence Reeve just shook his head and asked, "Did you know about this at the time?"

            "Reason? Perhaps. It would certainly explain why he went downhill so quickly. But let's not forget that Reno had issues of his own. He was never the most stable person to begin with. Hojo was pleased though that he managed to live through the experience. I think it made him reassess his notes about that little experiment." Rufus watched Reeve carefully, "And yes, I did know."

            "What?! You knew?! Why didn't you tell me?"

            "Because you did not need to know. That knowledge about the infusions is highly classified. But we're getting off track-"

            "Off track?" Reeve asked angrily. "No! I want to know about this now!"

            "You know everything about that that I am willing to divulge. If you want the particulars you should ask him yourself. Nothing I am telling you is news to him."

            Reeve had the sudden intense urge to see Reno this evening. "Go on then."

            "Well you know about the Number One and the Soldier candidates so I'll skip to the end. The reason the Nibleheim Reactor has such a large output is that it is also the staging area for mako infusions. A private staging area for the use of the Science Department. They use the reactor as well as the Soldiers for genetic tests. The Soldiers are enhanced with non-human cells."

            Reeve sat back stunned. "Genetic tests on humans? You can't be serious."

            "I am. This is something that has been going on for more than thirty years. It was just so well secreted within Shinra that nobody ever discovered it. Not until some poor bored accountant started to get a little too fastidious in his account keeping." Rufus made a slightly distasteful face. "Poor bastard just couldn't lay off."

            "Rufus his entire apartment building was blown sky high!"

            Rufus grimaced. "I'm told that that wasn't a specific instruction given to the assassin. But they could hardly be disappointed with the result."

            "He killed innocent people in that blast." Reeve said through grit teeth.

            Seeing Reeve's expression, Rufus' own features relaxed a little. "I didn't say I agreed with what he did. I'm just conveying the minds of the higher-ups. Namely my father and Heidigar. It was overkill. And information I wasn't privy to at the time."

            "It was overkill to kill him at all."

            "Maybe." Rufus answered non-commitment. "But we're getting off track again. My real story began quite a few years ago. When we were both still boys. It involves an upstart assistant Professor, a lab assistant named Lucrecia and a being called Jenova. You've heard of Sephiroth?"

            "Of course. Before my time though. Shinra's finest warrior. He went missing about five years ago on a training exercise. One of our reactors was reported to have been leaking and producing monsters."

            "Correct. The exercise was to take a raw recruit out in the field and test his mettle, the usual. But when Sephiroth went up to the reactor to check on it he discovered something he could never have imagined…"

******

            Reeve didn't want to close his eyes. Because when he did, he saw…it. 

            Bright. Alien. Grotesque. 

            The headless form of Jenova. The being that had been moved to the Shinra Building and that now existed in a claustrophobic dome tank near the Science floor.  A tank he had designed in the renovations. And something he'd never ever thought about twice when reviewing the  plans. And Solider, all of them, had had their genes mutated with the cells from this thing. 

            Reeve felt sick as he walked back through the elevator doors on his own level. He was about to go to his office when he stopped, paused, then started off in the direction of the model room instead. Inside was a model of his pride and joy. Neo Midgar. His vision of Midgar. A vision of Midgar that was now tainted with the knowledge of what it was really going to become. A veritable paradise in riches sure, but at the cost of one poor girl's well being. 

            Just because she happened to be born a half-Ancient. The daughter of an ex-research specimen and one of Shinra's finest scientists. And this fabulous city of his was going to built on her suffering. Just because of some incredible notion that she had some divine way of leading them to some mythological land filled with riches in the form of abundant mako. It was more than absurd. It was ludicrous. 

            And Reeve knew there wasn't a single thing he could do about it. Worse. He knew there wasn't a single thing he /would/ do about it. He was still struggling with the concept that the leader of such a wealthy corporation like Shinra could place his faith of something so utterly faithless.

            There had been more things Rufus had told him. Worse things. Rufus hadn't seemed to hold back from anything. It seemed that the president hadn't wanted to keep his employees in the dark anymore. That he wanted them to be aware of everything. No matter how base and wrong. Well, the President sure did have faith in his higher management not to rebel against these wrongs things then didn't he? Too much faith. It made Reeve's head spin.

            He wandered numbly into the model room and stared at his image of Midgar in black and green. Crossing over to a particular section of the model he stood there and stared at it. And didn't move.

            There was something though that he felt Rufus had neglected to tell him. Exactly /why/ these terrorists were targeting them. He might have passed it off as a rate hike, but he hadn't. He hadn't offered any explanation about it at all…

***********

            Notes: alright, half of this chapter wasn't in the original plan. In other words I've made it too long again. I hope this is something you can cope with. You may also understand why it's taking so long to get new chapters out too. I had meant to leave things out and put different things in but, eh, I'll try and work it out later. Also, I'm well aware about the crapness of my trying to write the exact scene out of the game in the church. I hope to use more scenes in the future so I hope I'll get better. Have faith.

Well, there sees an almost end of Kramer's Crap. Almost because I still haven't decided what exactly Reeve is gonna do with all this new information. For the moment I've gone for shocked. And unfortunately, he's gonna be like that for a little while to come. He has a bit to digest. And was it just me, or was Rufus being a little bit of a bastard? And did he not tell Reeve /everything/? Teehee.

            Next chapter Sec 7,

            AF

            anime_fearie@excite.com

            All Monsters stuff can be found at Neo Midgar

            The mailing list now has conversation!


	14. Interesting Conversations

What You Do To Me

By AF

Chapter 14 Interesting Conversations. 

            Rubbing his sore eyes with the balls of his palms, Reeve exited the elevator and proceeded down the hallway towards the Turks office. He had no real idea what he was doing. He knew it was very late, or very early depending on your view, and it was unlikely that anybody would be there at this time. But he also knew that with things this hectic, there ought to be at least one Turk who wasn't getting much sleep. And this one thought was what Reeve was banking on.

            As he got nearer to the offices, he could see that the light was still on. The door stood wide open, and no one appeared to be in the outer office. Breathing a sigh of relief, Reeve wandered further in and knocked lightly on the slightly ajar door to the inner office. His knock was answered immediately as the door was pulled roughly open and a very annoyed Tseng glared out at him. It almost made Reeve take a step back. But when Tseng saw who it was, his expression softened a little. He left the door opened and started back towards his desk and rifling through the mounds of papers covering it as he had been before Reeve had disturbed him.

            "If your looking for Reno, he isn't here," Tseng told him his back to Reeve. Reeve was about to answer in the negative before Tseng cut him off, "Though if you do manage to find him, tell him I want to see him very urgently."

            "Sounds like he's in trouble." Reeve ventured cautiously.

            "When is Reno not in trouble? Though this is one of the very few times I've literally wanted to strangle the little bastard. He hasn't been contactable since this afternoon. Basically he's avoiding me."

            Reeve stuck his hands in his pocket and watched Tseng's highly agitated form. "I won't ask questions. But I didn't come here looking for him."

            Tseng stopped what he was doing and looked over his shoulder at Reeve. "Oh?"

            "I was looking for you actually."

            Tseng finally turned around, leaned back against his desk and gave Reeve his full attention. "If this is about what I think it is, you should know better than to voice your objections in this building Mr. Evans."

            He didn't ask how Tseng knew. "That and a few other things. And I don't really care who hears." He added defiantly.

            Tseng checked his watch and sighed. "Fine. But not here." Before Reeve could protest he added, "I need a drink, but," Tseng made the slightest of disgusted faces as he looked down at himself,  "Not in these clothes."

*

            Reno jumped from the truck before it had properly stopped, his face set in a grim mask because of his earlier failure. The troopers, once treated with materia were back up and around without any fuss, most of them sustaining only slight wounds inflicted by the flower girl and the dropped barrels. He got into the elevator in the garage and jabbed the button for Heidigar's floor. This was not going to be pleasant. 

            Before the doors had shut, Charlie managed to jump in through them, an annoyed look of his own. 

            "What the fuck's up with you anyway Reno?" Charlie asked bluntly dragging his helmet off his head and shaking his mousy hair loose. "You've been looking like someone's pissed in your coffee ever since that job. I mean, she escaped, so what? Won't be the first time."

            Reno gave him an evil smile, "Because this is the first time they're likely to care."

            Charlie didn't seem bothered. "I still don't get why /you/ care. You're Reno remember? You don't care about anything."

            "You're wrong." Reno told him, "I happen to be quite fond of how my face looks. Thanks to that latest fuckup, it's likely to have a whole new bloody pulp look."

            "You're totally blowing this out of proportion." Charlie said waving his concern away. 

            "Why the hell do you care anyhow? Weren't you the smartass back in the van who I very nearly beat up myself?"

            Charlie smiled and leant back against the glass of the elevator. "Touchy these days aren't you. And you're right, I don't really care. You just looked to be in a mood." Charlie gave him a smooth smile, "You're always more enjoyable when you're in a mood."

            Reno looked back at the trooper with one raised eyebrow. 

            "Oh don't give me that look. You've always got more energy when you're pissed off, that's all I was saying. And besides," Charlie continued pushing himself off the glass wall and stopping just behind Reno to put an arm around the other man's waist, "Since when were you one to turn down an opportunity."

            Reno faced forward again and replied simply, "Not interested."

            "Bullshit."

            Reno plucked the wandering hand off him and turned completely to face the trooper. "I don't remember you being delusional Charlie."

            "I bet there's a few things you don't remember. What has it been, two years?"

            "More." Reno answered eventually with a sigh. 

            "'Bout time for a re-acquaintance session I'd say." Charlie told him, his smile widening. 

            "I definitely don't remember you being this desperate. Why don't you go ask one of your little 'yes' men for a little fun eh? And watch where you put your hands. In case you've forgotten, there are cameras in this elevator."

            Charlie stopped his approach and cocked his head to the side, regarding Reno. "Security tapes are my specialty, you know that. I can't believe the great Reno is saying no to well, anyone. Don't tell me the rumors are true?"

            "What rumors?" Reno asked suspiciously.

            "Rumors that you'd taken up with an exec, settled down the whole deal."

            Reno put a hand to his eyes and laughed unbelievingly. "You've got to be fucking with me. Is there anyone who doesn't know about that?"

            "So it's true? No shit hey."

            "No," Reno informed him, "It's not true. Well, not anymore at least. Not that it's any of your fucking business."

            "I'm impressed that you admit to any sort of commitment." Charlie gave him a knowing look, "And here I thought you didn't visit me anymore 'cause you had something going with Tseng."

            "I stopped visiting 'cause you're an annoying asshole with the brain power of a dead lemming."

            Charlie shrugged. "So? I wouldn't have thought you were there for my charming personality and sharp intelligence. Personally I thought you were there 'cause I was a good fuck and didn't complain when you felt like being rough."

            For some reason, this conversation to Reno seemed to be extraordinarily stupid. A normal conversation he might have had with the man a few years ago, but now was only making him want to laugh and deck the guy at the same time. Still, "I knew you had your redeeming qualities."

            "Yeah, me and apparently the ten or so others you had a thing going with at the time."

            "I like variety."

            "So I noticed. What happened?"

            "I grew out of it." Reno told him in his best 'drop it' tone. Charlie was oblivious though.

            "Grew out of it? You're two years younger than me!"

            "Not mentally apparently."

            "Joke all you want. I didn't want to get into a conversation about this. You in for the post-mission tradition, or you gonna stay up on that superior cloud of yours?"

            Reno didn't know what to reply. So intent on saying 'no', he was surprised when the word wouldn't come out properly. Another little voice in his head was asking him, 'Why the hell not? It's not like your exactly beating back the offers is it? You need this and besides it's more who you are than what you were trying to pretend to be.'

            Charlie took Reno's confused expression to be something optimistic and smiled predatorily. "You want to check in and meet me at the usual spot?"

            Reno shook his head.

            Charlie's smile widened. "Now?"

            Reno nodded and swallowed. "Why the hell not."

            It took Charlie two steps to put him back in front of Reno, that annoying smirk still in place on the other man's face. "That's the Reno I know. Feel like venting do you?"

            Reno nodded, his jaw clenched. "You have no idea."

            Charlie moved forward that small fraction of space that would bring their lips together. While Reno had never had a problem with that kind of attention in the past with these little moments, for some reason, kissing Charlie seemed weird. Instead, after the first bruising assault, Reno broke away from the kiss and ran his lips down the pale expanse of neck he found till he met with the soft skin at the base where he bit down. Hearing a somewhat painful gasp, but no complaints, he felt himself being pushed backward against the doors of the elevator. Charlie's hand darted out toward the controls and the elevator shuddered to a halt. By experience, Reno figured they had about fifteen minutes before someone would start wondering.

            Clothes were a hassle, but considering the circumstances, a hassle that could be dealt with. The goal wasn't to make the moment long and lingering. This moment only had one true goal for both those involved and time couldn't be wasted messing with the stupid buttons and buckles. 

            Fifteen minutes would be plenty of time.

            Raising his head slightly, Reno looked over Charlie's shoulder with unfocussed eyes…which focused very quickly indeed. 

            The Shinra Building functioned with two main elevators. An express and the one Reno was in. Both had clear glass covering all walls, and both ran down the same length of the building. It was into this other elevator as it passed that Reno was looking. Recognition asserted itself on Reno's face and he quickly pushed Charlie away from him in order to go over to one of the glass panels to get a better look. Charlie let out a startled 'hey', but Reno ignored him. The other elevator had passed them so quickly, but Reno knew he hadn't been wrong about who he'd seen. And more importantly, who had seen him. Tseng. And if he wasn't mistaken, the other occupant had been Reeve. Luck would have it that Reeve's back had been facing him, but he could swear at least Tseng caught a glimpse of what was going on.

            "Fucking fantastic." Reno muttered.

            Not that Tseng was likely to really mention it. Or to Reeve for that matter. But Reno knew full well what Tseng thought of his old office hobbies. No doubt it would give his boss that one little thing more to be annoyed at him about.

            Angrily, Reno turned and flipped the switch on the elevator control panel to get it moving again.

            "What are you doing?" Asked an irate Charlie.

            "Just shut up would you." Reno growled.

***

            "I've never heard of /you/ especially wanting to have a drink before." Reeve commented watching as the waitress set his and his companion's drinks on the table. Tseng had ordered for them both. Shots of whiskey.

            Tseng picked up his and tipped the entire contents down his throat as though it were nothing more than water. "I don't drink often or a lot when I do."

            "That's what I thought."

            Tseng watched Reeve with an oddly curious expression. "Truth be known, I used to have a problem with the stuff."

            Never expecting any sort of personal details from the Turk's Leader, Reeve couldn't help his surprise. "Really?"

            Tseng nodded with the faintest hints of amusement from Reeve's response, as though he was secretly enjoying the novelty of surprising someone. It really shouldn't have been a novelty for him.

            Reeve quickly wiped the look of his face hurriedly and smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I just…I never would have guessed."

            "I find that difficult to believe. Don't you remember yourself commenting about how often you find yourself being dragged off to a bar?"

            "Yes, but not with you. You just seem so…so…" Tseng raised an expectant eyebrow. "…controlled." Reeve finished weakly.

            "You might have noticed that drinking is a way of Turk life. You drink to relax, unwind and most importantly, to forget. You could say that alcoholism is a job requirement. Tradition was that we used to have a drink every evening after work, most of the weekends and /really/ drink in the event of a death in the ranks. Tseng shrugged then signaled to the waitress for another round. "Things change though. I was put into the Soldier program when I was sixteen. A Turk by the age of eighteen. I've seen countless men killed and killed most of them myself. I've been the subject of a plot within our ranks, uncovered treason twice, shot more times than I care to remember and been tortured for days on end. I've barely scraped through too many years with my life. And in two months I will have served longer than any Turk since the first." Here he gave Reeve a weary smile. "I should think that a drinking problem is the least of my worries."

            "I can see why." Reeve told him soberly.

            The waitress came and went before Tseng spoke again.

            "But somehow I don't think you came here to listen to me ramble."

            "You've been in a talkative mood. I don't mind listening."

            Tseng nodded, "I've no doubt of your good intentions Mr. Evans. But I'm thinking you want to hear less about my problems and more about where they may stem from."

            Reeve eyed Tseng warily. Apparently he already knew about his conversation with Rufus. "Is there anything that goes on at Shinra that you /don't/ know about?"

            "There are few sneakier than me, true. Though I'm sure you've noticed my ire with Reno."

            The smooth course change in the conversation wasn't lost on Reeve. "Taught him too well?"

            "The problem with him is that he's virtually self taught. Lasted little more than a day in the rookie uniform." Tseng peered at Reeve more closely. "If you want to know about the infusions you can ask. As you've noticed, I'm in a talkative mood."

            Reeve looked at the other man directly before replying. The chance to learn things from one of the most knowledgeable men in Shinra was an offer too good to refuse. Especially now. But he had to wonder why Tseng was so ready to talk. A couple of moths ago the best he could have hoped for was a few mysterious remarks and a knowing smile.

            "Are the infusions responsible for Reno's madness?"

            "Well, that was direct." Tseng commented before downing his shot. Replacing the glass on the table top he continued, "Pity the answer isn't."

            "You don't know?"

            "Not for certain. But it can't have helped. He might have done it on his own, though doubtfully so soon and probably not as intense."

            "Did you go through the same thing?"

            "To a degree. I can say that it heightens your paranoia. Considering the past subjects, I'm inclined to think that the process is a little unsafe, especially for use on men who traditionally have more hang-ups and a job as stressful as it is. You can blame me for his infusion, I was the one who pushed it." Tseng sighed, "Leviathan knows I blame myself."

            "You did it because he was going to die right?"

            "Die or live out his days as a veritable vegetable. I didn't have much choice. But I'll admit I lied to him. I didn't tell him the risks, at the time I had him believe it was perfectly safe."

            "Gods, what happened to him?" Reeve asked a might alarmed.

            "Blood clot in his brain. He had a stroke."

            "But-"

            "No." Tseng interrupted. "Too long a story. And not my business to tell."

            "Okay." Reeve responded slowly making an effort to calm himself. "Is that all the infusions do?"

            "Of course not. Shinra wouldn't infuse so many if they didn't think it was worth it. Gives the subject more energy, makes them stronger, enhances all senses. All the superhero attributes." Tseng added a might bitterly. "I am well over forty and feel like I have the energy of a twenty year old. And I am well aware that I don't also look my age. You can imagine the effect it has on a twenty year old who is feeling the effects for the first time."

            "Gods." Reeve muttered again.

            "Have nothing to do with it." Tseng finished for him.

            For the next ten minutes the two sat in companionable, thoughtful silence. The time was used well by Reeve who used the silence to catch up with Tseng's drinking. Quite a feat considering the two of them now ordered enough for six every round. 

            Reeve hadn't meant to get onto this line of questioning with Tseng. They had kind of just gotten onto it with the aid of Tseng's line of thinking. Obviously he had thought this is what must have been foremost on Reeve's mind. And while he had very desperately wanted to know about Reno's infusion and what that meant, he had fully intended on waiting to hear the full story off Reno. Though he was somewhat glad that he had spoken to Tseng. There was little doubt in his mind as to Reno's version of the story. Omitting a lot of it would have been a big factor. After all had it not been for Tseng, Reno might have died! Reeve closed his eyes and tried to blot the thought out. No, Reeve was thinking along some different, more disastrous lines when he had wandered into Tseng's office.

            "Rufus gave me the gist of what happened with Kramer." Reeve offered trying to kick-start the conversation once more. 

            "Oh yes? That actually surprises me a little. I assumed he'd only tell you about the Neo Midgar project among other things."

            "He told me that I needed to know everything."

            Tseng looked very skeptical at this. "Well you do, that's the truth. But that hardly means that he told you everything there was to tell."

            "Well he told me the whole sordid history of the Nibleheim reactor." Reeve admitted suppressing a shudder. "Or at least, if there was anything he left out, I find it hard to believe there was more."

            "I'll give you that. I suppose the truth about that is an almost necessary piece of history for Shinra. Well, if you were being made to understand it anyway. I'm quite shocked you're taking it so well, considering." Tseng hardly looked shocked. 

            "Suppressing might be the more apt word here. I'm actually more concerned about this terrorist group."

            "You're right, of course. History is always just that, history. Far worse for those of who lived through it, but I can see your point. Avalanche are the present, most pressing concern. They've scored more points on Shinra in the last few days that any terrorist group has managed in all the years Shinra has been in power. Taking out two of our reactors was a major blow to the company's collective pride, as well as the old man's wallet. Still, I'll admit to a little amazement when I was informed about the drastic measures we'll use to counteract it. It's overkill, and I would've thought the President and Heidigar would know better."

            "Overkill?" Reeve asked faintly. "They're going to murder an entire sector Tseng."

            Tseng eyes subtly surveyed the immediate area, apparently making sure no one heard them. "Unjust or not Reeve. You'll be warned to keep your voice down. Creating a panic will not help matters."

            In all the time he had known the Leader of the Turks, this was the closest thing he had ever heard to a threat off the other man. His eyes narrowed. "Why won't it? At least it might warn the people."

            "It might." Tseng conceded. "But I would hate to be ordered to track down the leak that made it public knowledge. My confidence stretches so far Mr. Evans, I need you to remember that."

            "And my /conscience/ only stretches so far. I'm half tempted to raise the alarm anyway, especially after what you just said."

            "This is no time to get stubborn. I'm not threatening you. Merely giving a friendly warning. And just because I am, it doesn't mean I happen to agree with the solution. I'm just not in much of a position to make my voice heard. I'm not above getting friendly warnings myself you understand."

            Reeve found that very hard to believe. "Who would they get to carry it out? Soldier? I don't understand what you might have to be scared about."

            Tseng rubbed his eyes tiredly. "No, not Soldier. I've had enough indications to begin believing that I'm more expendable than I might have thought. At least as far as assignments are concerned."

            "What do you mean?"

            "Nothing." Tseng replied waving away the concern. "Merely putting voice to perhaps unwarranted thoughts. But I know better than to think I'm above reproach no matter what. In that case, you would be better off knowing the same about yourself."

            Reeve shook his head in disbelief. "I don't understand. When did Shinra become a military camp? When did they start killing their workers off for treason. That doesn't sound like a company. That sounds like a dictatorship."

            "Congratulations, you're eyes are now seeing the truth. But in the scheme of things, you're still relatively new, so I'll dispense with the sarcasm."

            "My humble thanks." Reeve muttered with his own sarcastic tone. Then, "They'll rethink. About the plate. They have to."

            Tseng, somehow didn't look all that convinced.

***

Notes: I know, the chapter is really short and not worth the wait I made you guys go through in order to read more. But there is good news that comes with this. The chapter was cut off where it was because a) the part after this is set for the next morning and I usually cut chapters off after a day. b) this really should have been part of the last chapter. & c) the original chapter I wrote for chapter 14 was wayyy too long. So the good news is that the next chapter, already over it's word limit is more than half finished and I can tell you, it's a good one at that, even if I say so myself. So the wait theoretically shouldn't be as long and the chapter will be bigger than usual encompassing the day leading up to the Plate destruction and the pillar destruction itself. Utterly droolable action and interaction lemme tell you.

            And it's about time Reeve and Reno had a little chat dontcha think? They've been ignoring each other way too long.

            Grins

            AF

Btw, don't ask about Charlie. I didn't mean for him to start hitting on Reno damnit!

anime_fearie@excite.com

All trilogy stuff can be found via the 70th Floor Office at Neo Midgar

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	15. The Sky Is Falling

What You Do To Me

By AF

Chapter 15 

The Sky Is Falling.

            Reeve watched as Heidigar shifted his bulk into the office. Reeve fought to keep his face impassive. After his discussion last night with Tseng, his humor with the man was at an all time low. But the President wanted him here, and so, here he was. So Reeve stood facing the President, his face utterly blank.

            "How are the preparations going?"

            Reeve cringed at the horrible laugh that accompanied the answer. "Smoothly, very smoothly! I assigned the Turks to this."

***

Reno paused outside of Heidigar's office and rubbed at tired eyes. So much for getting any sleep. (The remainder of last night had seen him preparing for his next assignment and negating going home to find several nasty messages from Tseng on his machine.) That was probably a good thing considering. Gods knew if he were completely in control of his faculties, he'd think this was a very bad idea. He still thought it was a bad idea, just not something he was going to think about too much if it could be helped.

            And finally, after tomorrow night, he could get some sleep. After this job was done.

            He closed his eyes briefly and thought of all those people…

            …Well, he could hope for sleep anyway.

            There were a few things that needed doing in preparation for tonight. One involved going to see Rufus about clearance to the armory. The second involved going to see Tseng, giving him an update and kissing his own ass goodbye. The last required him to go down to Urban Development for the pillar instructions. Reno stood there in the middle of the corridor irresolute and trying to decide how he would most like to spend his morning. Being irritated, being killed, or a different kind of mental agony. Irritated would have won out normally if Tseng hadn't just rounded the corner, apparently heading for the office Reno had just left. When Tseng saw Reno, he didn't stop his rapid walk, but his jaw subtly clenched and his eyes narrowed. As he passed Reno a fierce though soft spoken order to 'stay' was issued.

            When Tseng was out of sight, Reno rubbed at the sudden twitch above his left eyebrow. But he didn't dare move from his position except to lean against one of the side walls. No doubt Tseng was in there right now getting his final orders regarding the pillar job. That meant he was probably also being informed about Reno's individual involvement in the mission. Basically, if Tseng didn't come out of that office with steam shooting out of his ears, Reno would be surprised. And he'd be even more surprised if Tseng didn't somehow wrongly think that it was all Reno's singular fault.

            When Tseng /did/ emerge, he wasn't steaming, but his face did carry a rather pinkish hue. Reno sighed and stretched and basically prepared himself for death. As Tseng passed him, the Turk's hand shot out and grabbed the scruff of the younger Turk's neck, painfully urging Reno to walk alongside his leader.

            "Don't you /dare/ pull another disappearing act like you did yesterday afternoon." Tseng hissed into Reno's ear.

            "I wasn't-" Reno began to argue but the hand tightened painfully.

            Tseng cut him off, "Ever."

            Reno assumed that Tseng was taking him back down to the Turk's offices, but apparently, the offices were too far away for Tseng to begin his rant. He steered Reno into the bathroom down the hall and propelled him toward the sinks. Reno managed to catch himself on the nearest basin and look up into the mirror to see Tseng checking the stalls, searching for anyone who might overhear. Satisfied that they were alone, Tseng turned on him.

            "When were you going to tell me about all this?"

            "About all what?" Reno asked stupidly toward the reflected image of Tseng.

            Tseng stalked across the tiles and grabbed Reno's shoulder, twisting his Turk around to face him properly.

            "Don't play dumb, Reno. The extra assignments. It has been vexing me for some time, what you were up to. But I understand now. Kramer, Aeris now you're suddenly the one in charge of blowing the Plate? You're working directly for Heidigar and the President. What for, spying on me?"

            Reno shook his head weakly. "No. I'm not a spy. That's all I can tell you."

            Tseng took a menacing step closer, so close that Reno could feel his boss's warm breath touch his face. "Oh, you'll tell me Reno."

            "I've been ordered not to."

            Tseng didn't seem to like this answer. "By whom?"

            "Heidigar."

            "So," Tseng began again, a touch more calmly, "You're not a spy, but you are working, not under my command, but under the command of Heidigar and the President doing odd jobs for them. I don't suppose you can tell me why?"

            Reno tried to appear nonchalant. "I've been trying to work that out myself actually. I figure it's because I'm more expendable than you. If I get caught doing something especially nasty, then who cares. But you, they don't want to lose their star Turk. Besides, it's not regular Turk stuff. Heidigar calls it house cleaning."

            "I realize that. I meant, why you? Why not Rude."

            Here Reno figured he could just shrug and say he didn't know. But there was no use lying to Tseng. "Rude I suppose doesn't have the same, uh, history I guess. Never send a sane man to do work for the deranged." It was meant to be a joke, but his boss wasn't laughing.

            "I understand. Caryla tried to warn me about your perfect work ethic." Tseng replied bitterly. "You killed her."

            "I can't talk about that."

            "Can't or won't?"

            "Does it make any fucking difference?" Reno shot back. He had tried to remain submissive, but the constant questions were more than irritating. Mostly because Tseng had every right to be asking them. "They just wanted a Turk who would do all the really nasty things without question or thought. At the time I didn't see a problem getting a little extra cash and furthering my career. You're their perfect Turk Tseng, but I'm their perfect psychopath. If I burn out, fine, they lose their psychopath, but they still have their Turks. I'm not spying on you, they don't want to get rid of you, they just didn't want me to tell you because they knew you'd complain. They're trying to make you happy, not undermine you. So for fuck's sake, just let it go!"

            Tseng spent a few moments, carefully watching Reno's face. The anger wasn't evident anymore, and if Reno didn't know any better he'd say Tseng even looked a little sad. It didn't stop Reno flinching and closing his eyes though when Tseng raised his hand. The shock of it was though wasn't Tseng hitting him, he didn't. Instead he felt soft fingers on the side of his face, a caress. 

            "You sound like you regret it."

            "Does it matter?"

            Tseng thought this over for a moment. "It matters to me. Answer me honestly, and I'll let it go."

            "I'm not the same now. These jobs are, they're not…" Reno closed his eyes once more and bowed his head, "Yeah, I regret it."

            Lifting Reno's face back up, Tseng nodded, "Good answer."

            Only then did Reno hear the dull click and feel Tseng move slightly. Relaxing the hammer on a gun and putting it away. It still shocked him how secretly Tseng could move not to mention how silently.

            Numbly, "You were going to kill me."

            The fingers became a hand gently caressing the side of his face and his jaw. "If I thought for one moment you were going to revert back into that monster I saw a couple of summer's ago, yes." Tseng explained simply. "Better that than the alternative. You wouldn't have lived through it a second time."

            "Not if you'd shot me." Reno returned dryly. 

            Tseng actually smiled a little at that. But the smile evaporated as the hand moved down to grip Reno's chin securely. "And don't let me catch you reverting back to fucking your life away with every loser who has five minutes to spare you. I need you in control, do you understand me?"

            "So long as I stay clean, why do you give a fuck?"

            "There are worse things you an do to your mind than feed it drugs and alcohol, Reno. Try not to go looking for them." 

            Tseng let him go and took a step back. Reno watched him closely. "What like staying celibate and sober?"

            "Just do what I tell you for a change."

            Reno thought that over for a while. Tseng turned to leave, but before he could get to the door, Reno /had/ to ask him something.

            "Would you really have shot me? You'd let it end like that?"

            Tseng nodded, his eyes serious.

            Reno felt like he'd been kicked in the head with a heavy boot. "You don't like me very much, do you?"

            Tseng shook his head slightly. "Not my reasoning for shooting you. But, no I don't."

            Reno hung his head and stared at his shoes. Tseng continued,

            "You are probably my best friend. It's love that would've made me shoot you."

            Reno's head came up sharply at that, but Tseng had already left.

***

            Reno flopped down into the visitor's chair and stared darkly at the carpet by his feet, wondering when he was going to wake up. This day had just been too weird.

            "Somebody steal your shades Reno?"

            Reno didn't even look up at Rufus. "Coffee." He grunted.

            Rufus diligently ordered the beverage through the intercom and sat back behind his desk and looked at the Turk expectantly. "Alright, what is it?"

            "Would you care?"

            "Not particularly."

            "Then dispense with the courteous chit chat will you, I'm not in the mood."

            Rufus sighed, "Fine. But if you're here about the pillar, I've already been filled in."

            Reno looked up, "Who-"

            "Tseng was in here this morning." Rufus frowned, "Are you aware that he had your trainee running down around the slums, tracking the Ancient you lost yesterday?"

            "Of course." Reno lied.

            "Well, anyway, he's sent Rude down to deal with Corneo since every time you go there something usually catches on fire. Hopefully the rebels will take the bait and stay around the sector-"

            "They're not rebels." Reno interrupted. "They're terrorists. There's a difference."

            "I'm sure you'd know."

            "So if you already know what's going on, why am I still here? I need to get down to Urban-"

            "Good. Because I need you to have a word with Reeve."

            One of Reno's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Why?"

            "A delicate matter really. Heidigar seems to think that Reeve looked a little uncomfortable in his meeting with the President this morning. And a little strung out. He wants to check and make sure that Reeve isn't about to do anything overtly stupid before tonight. Just have a chat with him, feel things out, sooth his problems and make sure he isn't going to cause a hassle. Heidigar's taking it all a little too seriously and I don't want Reeve getting caught with the short end just because he isn't all gung-ho about killing hundreds of people."

            "Surely you know I'd be biased." Reno answered uncomfortably. 

            "Doesn't matter. I'll tell Heidigar that everything is fine regardless of anything you might tell me. He's a good guy, and I need him."

            "Then why don't you go talk to him?"

            "Because I don't have time to deal with weak links. I have too much to do as it is already. You said yourself that you had to go down there anyway."

            Reno got to his feet. "You've made your point."

            "What about your coffee?"

            "I'll grab one on the way out."

            "Suit yourself. But do something, you look like shit."

            Although screaming at Rufus sounded fun, Reno bit his lip instead. He'd been awake for too long, he wasn't dealing with this. 

            He left the room and headed for the elevators.

Reno entered the floor that housed the entire Department of Urban Development and made a quick scan for Reeve. He couldn't articulate how angry he was at Rufus for blowing off coming to talk to Reeve. Surely the man could've spared a few minutes rather than the harsh, 'I'm too busy to be dealing with weak links right now.' Reno himself was busy. Far too busy. He had a million things to plan before tonight and another million for the following day. And to top that all off, the idea of seeing Reeve again so soon under such circumstances was enough to make him even more irritated. 

            He had made it only halfway toward Reeve's office when a cheery voice stopped him and his vision was filled with the dark large eyes of Kattie. Reno felt like growling.

            "Hello Reno. What brings you up to our floor?"

            "Looking for Reeve." Reno returned curtly.

            "So was I actually. I think he's in the model room. I'll show you the way if you'd like."

            Reno didn't like the idea. But he hardly felt justified in following through on his want to tell her to fuck off. His jealousy wasn't her fault. Well it was, but she didn't know that. And to make matters worse, Kattie kept talking all the way toward the center room.

            "He's been so worried lately with everything happening. I just heard that the President told him to take some holiday time because of stress. Imagine that! Holiday time at a moment like this. With everything in an uproar with these reactor bombings you'd think the President would want all his key people ready and able, not lying on some beach in Costa. But that's just it, reactor repair on the Number Five is to be put off for now till the Number One is finished." Kattie sighed and rolled her eyes, "Just how they think they are going to handle to power outputs is beyond me. We had to divert a quarter power from both the Number Two and the Number Eight to deal with the needs to Sector One. Now we have the same problems using the Number Six and the Number Four for Sector Five. The Shinra Building is now running off the Number Seven but it isn't meant to function for both Shinra's needs and Sector Seven.  And unless we use some power from the last remaining reactor to cover the shortfall, quite a few people are going to have some cold nights ahead of them."

            Reno winced at that. He personally knew exactly how they were going to make up the shortfall and exterminate some pests into the bargain. Kattie continued regardless.

            "And you know Reeve, he's taking this all pretty hard. All those lives in the reactors, and now the problems with the reactors. I thought it would be best if somebody gave him some company. I don't like the idea of leaving him alone when he's like this. He'll only agonize over it all the more."

            By this point Reno had just about enough. He stopped walking and turned on Kattie. "You think it'll make him feel better after a few drinks a good fuck and a 'cheer up sport, it isn't all that bad'?" Reno hissed. "Guess again. The drink and the fuck maybe, but don't insult his intelligence."

            Kattie's face drained a little of color before she quite suddenly reared back and slapped Reno hard across the face. 

            Utterly unprepared for the blow, Reno's head snapped sideways with the impact and forced him to take a small step back to keep his balance. It had also made him bite the inside of his mouth. He tasted blood. He took his time wiping away what had gotten on his lip. He did not bring his eyes back up to Kattie.

            "I guess I deserved that." Reno muttered.

            Kattie sounded furious. "Told you did he? Well I don't care if he did or not. And you, Turk or not, it's none of your fucking business."

            "That's true." Now he bought his head up. "But that still doesn't mean him being in a down mood means a good fuck is in order. You sound way too happy at the prospect that he may be feeling like shit."

            "Oh yes?" Kattie's face was flushed, her eyes wide, "At least I was there. You're supposed to be his friend aren't you? I didn't see you hanging around offering an ear and a shoulder."

            That was also true. But she didn't know the half of it. "I also wasn't there offering him my ass in sympathy." Reno reminded.

            Kattie lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye. "What's the matter Reno? Pissed you didn't think of it first?"

            Reno was so shocked with the question he didn't know whether to be angry or amused. He chose blustered. 

Kat continued; "Don't look so shocked, I know your reputation. More than half of Shinra knows /your/ reputation. So I find it a little difficult to swallow the idea that you could possibly be lecturing /me/ about morals."

            Reno's eyes narrowed. "If you've heard half of it, I'm wondering why your even standing here arguing with me. Being the deranged Turk that I am and everything."

            Kattie's face returned to its former, paler complexion. "Are you threatening me?"

            Reno smiled sweetly. "I don't threaten people. I find that it works against me if the people I target have been forewarned. Threats are for people who rely on fear to dominate people. I don't have to. I rely on truth and knowledge. People already know that fucking with me is a very Bad thing to do. Do you understand?"

            Kattie tried to stand up straighter. "I'm not afraid of you."

            "Good to know you're bright enough to realize when you are also beneath my notice." Reno finished. "You said Reeve was in the model room?"

            He didn't wait for her to affirm his question. He merely turned on his heel and strode away from her. Internally, he couldn't believe what he had just done. While he had never been one not to use his position and reputation to get results, this was probably the first time he had done it when dealing with innocent co-workers. He had to admit, he felt a little guilty reminding himself yet again that it wasn't her fault that he was jealous. It also wasn't her fault that he was in a shitty mood. Not to mention the fact that he had probably just scared her off Reeve for life.  Still, he was smiling as he walked away. He might have just been a complete bastard to the woman, but she would probably never bug him again. Which was good. Everything Reeve related aside, she really just got up his nose.

            Reeve was, as promised, hanging out in the model room. Just hanging out.  That was weird enough really. Reno had never seen the man within the confines of his own department simply, hanging out. He was usually always working.  Now he sat on the floor by the model of what looked to be a replica of Midgar. Just sitting by the model, dangling a section of the model by his fingertips, staring at it. Reno had to say his name three times before he was able to get a reaction. 

            Reeve looked up at him with such red, worn eyes that Reno felt like going straight back to Heidigar and telling the fat git to shove the job. Knowing full well what was wrong with Reeve and further knowledge that he was to become a big part of that problem made him physically sick. A reaction he was not quite expecting. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved that Reeve didn't know of his, Reno's, full involvement or not. But he knew he'd have to tell him. And he knew he'd go through with it too.

            "I don't know where to start." Reno began lamely.

            Reeve just gave him this weary, sad look before turning his eyes back to the piece dangling from his fingers. "You don't have to explain anything Reno. It's not your fault."

            Reno distractedly scratched the back of his head. "Well not the decision, no. But I may have something to do with the undertaking."

            "I know."

            Reno almost did a double take. "You know?"

            "Heidigar said he'd assigned the Turks to the mission." Reeve sighed, "You do what you're ordered to. Just like the rest of us, overpaid sheep."

            One of Reno's eyebrows was slowly creeping up. "Well that's one way to look at it."

            Reeve stood up, the piece of model still in his hand and gave Reno a most sick smile. "Oh, I'd say it's a very good way of putting it. Accurate." His voice rose, "True!" He stalked over toward Reno and thrust the model piece under the Turk's nose. Reno didn't have to be a genius to work out what relevance the piece had. It was the plate for sector seven. "They're going to kill hundreds of people in order to catch five or so terrorists! And why should we let this happen?"

            "Because if Shinra don't stop them, they'll cause more chaos."

            Reeve shook his head in disgust. "You don't really believe that. I know you don't. We're doing this because we want the populace to know that they're more evil than us. That letting them go free would be worse than letting Shinra continue to stand over them, the people to continue living in the shadow this tower casts over the city. We'll say the Plate collapse is Avalanche's fault. We'll blame them to make ourselves look better as we swing in to the rescue. Even though it's all our," Reeve turned away and hurled the model piece at the far wall where it shattered leaving not one dent on the smooth wall, "fault!"

            Reeve stood still after that, breathing hard, head down. "They killed in the tens, we kill in the hundreds. How does that work?"

            There were many bad ways Reno figured he could handle this situation. Opening his mouth, for one.  "You keep saying 'we'. You hold no blame in this."

            Reeve turned, rounding on him, "'We' goes for anyone working here. Anyone that would willingly stand by and let this happen!"

            Reno took a chance to glance nervously at the open door. Reeve didn't realize what he was saying obviously. He really didn't realize how much it might get him into trouble. "But you will." Reno told him. "Not because you believe it is right, but because you aren't stupid enough to go against it. Shinra is flexing its muscles, nothing more. After this, no group will try anything like this again. They'll know it isn't worth it. People, some people, the right people, will know who was truly behind this. They'll know in the future to lay off."

            "But that's exactly what Shinra wants!"

            "And that is what will happen!" He hadn't meant to shout back. He lowered his voice. "Trust me on this. I know a bit about how that part of Midgar functions."

            "It's still not right. There is no way to justify killing that many people." His voice was dangerously calm now. It worried Reno more than the shouting. "I help every year that I am here, building new things in the city. I oversee the running of the bulk of it. Personally. /Me/. This is my city as much as theirs. And they are going to kill a part of it."

            _And they'll kill a part of you while they're at it won't they. That's what you're really trying to tell me. "No! Don't start talking like that. Don't do anything stupid. You can't save those people. Not now."_

            "I couldn't even if I wanted to." Reeve confessed. "The President told me to take a couple of days off. But I can't even leave the building. I tried. And I won't be able to till tonight." Reeve closed his eyes tightly, "And then it won't even matter anymore." He laughed then, high, almost hysterically, "I don't think the President particularly trusts me much."

            Reno didn't think there was much more he could say. Reeve wouldn't do anything to endanger his life. He wasn't able to. No doubt if he was restricted to the building, his phone calls had also been restricted. Monitored, cut off or whatever. But that was to be expected throughout most of the building just in case some secretary got a whiff of what was going to happen and started thinking about some friend or relative that lived in the area. And there was no way he could try and justify what was about to happen. Reno couldn't even justify it to himself to his own satisfaction. Instead he crossed the room and drew the devastated man into his arms. He was surprised how easily Reeve let himself be comforted, but continued to pat his back reassuringly.

            "I'm glad you're here though." Reeve told him. "I've had the worst feeling that there's more bad news and I keep waiting for the bomb to drop." He chuckled a little though without mirth. "Though I have known to be paranoid."

            Reno was almost about to tell him. It was on the tip of his tongue. Reeve knew the Turks were involved in the operation, but that didn't mean he knew that Reno was personally going to be the one to drop the Plate. Considering how well he was being received pretty much assured him that his assumption was correct. But Reno balked from telling him. He couldn't. Not while he was like this. Doubtless Reeve would learn the truth later. But for now at least he could comfort his friend without the extra torment. For now. But too soon it would be time to leave.

Slowly, carefully, he eased away from Reeve and looked into his friend's bloodshot eyes.

"I won't lie to you. Things are tense. But if you believe for one second that this has anything to do with you, that it's in any way your fault, you're a bigger idiot than those who are truly responsible." Reno ducked his head to catch Reeve's lowering gave. "No matter what happens. Do you understand?"

Reeve nodded vaguely. He didn't look convinced.

"I mean it." Reno persisted. "No matter what, say it."

"No matter what."

Reno watched him for a second before nodding himself, seeing that his words were getting through finally. Well at least a little. He curled his fingers 'round the back of Reeve's neck and held the other man for another moment before reluctantly releasing him.

"Now I want you to go down to the café and get something to eat." Reno told him in his best version of a parental voice. It wasn't very good.

"You've got to be kidding. If I eat anything I'll be sick."

"Try." 

Reeve was quiet for a moment while he watched Reno watching him. Reno knew it wouldn't take him long to realize why he was being sent down to the café. All its windows faced east, in the opposite direction to Sector Seven. Reno knew Reeve had probably figured it out, but his friend didn't say anything. Instead he just said 'okay' faintly before licking his lips and looking at the floor. 

"Reno," He began looking up from the floor, "when you, I mean after you come back. Can we talk? If you're not busy, of course. I just, I want to tell you something."

Completely mystified, Reno merely shrugged, "Sure. If that's what you want." He checked his watch. He really did have so many other things he ought to be doing. Why was he procrastinating here with Reeve? He needed to get those files and get back to work. "I better get going. Are you going to be okay?" 

Reeve managed a rather wonky and not at all convincing smile. "Sure. /I'll/ live."

Again those unspoken words drifted in between them. 

"You'll wait for me here?"

"I'll be here."

Still Reno stood there for a moment and watched his friend. When it looked as though Reeve would say no more, Reno said, "Okay. Just go get something to eat, you look ragged, and we'll talk later."

"Okay."

Very reluctantly, Reno left the room and started off toward the archive room. It occurred to him later what exactly he had been waiting for in that room. Why, among other things, he was so reluctant to leave. He realized that one word from Reeve, one simple; 'don't go', and Reno wouldn't have. He'd never questioned his job like that, not like he was after seeing the effect it was directly having on someone he cared about. And if Reeve hadn't wanted Reno to go tonight he would have got his wish. And that fact stunned him.

_***_

            Reno sat on one of the benches in the chopper and looked out of the window at the cityscape spread out before him. He guessed the view would have been impressive to someone who wasn't used to seeing big sprawling cities, but Reno had lived here his whole life and the view didn't impress him much anymore. He wasn't sure if it ever had.

            Tseng sat across from him, trying to talk on his PHS over the noise of the blades whirling above his head. Eventually he hung up and looked sternly toward Reno.

            "Rude's in place." Tseng said simply. "You've trained your recruit well Reno, she's managed to track the Ancient ever since she was found again in Sector Five. She's with the ex-Solider you told me about."

            "Cassian hasn't heard of him." Reno reminded Tseng speaking only barely loud enough to be heard over the chopper. "Was he really Solider?"

            "You tell me. They've taken the bait left by Corneo. No doubt you two will meet up once again."

            "Swell."

            Again with that stern look.

            "What?" Reno finally asked, pulling both eyes away from the view out the window. 

            "We've had a security leak. Someone alerted a Rebel Group leader in the slums about staying away from the sector."

            "Oh?" Reno asked indifferently.

            "Reno, I know you-"

            "Shut up, Tseng. I'm a murderer, not a complete asshole. Besides, Shinra need those groups just as much as the terrorists do. How d'you think we came to be here in the first place?"

            Tseng sighed. "You've made your point." Darkly, "Don't do it again."

            "Or what?" Reno snapped back, "You'll shoot me?"

            Reno knew there was nothing Tseng could say back to that now, and luckily his boss didn't try to come up with something else. He simply gave Reno an irritated look and settled back onto his side of the chopper while Reno turned back to his window. They were getting pretty close now, they both could here the sounds of the firefight.

*

            Tseng was right, Avalanche were already there.

            Pulling open the door on the chopper, Reno braced himself for the fly-over. He heard Tseng mutter a 'be careful' behind him, but he didn't take notice. When the chopper flew over the platform Reno threw himself out of the chopper. He landed running and angled himself over toward the panel over by the pillar that housed the Pillar Release Mechanism. The chopper kept going by on another mission. He could only hope they'd get back here in time to pick him up before the pillar blew. 

            Tapping in his code quickly, he accessed the release and paused. He could feel several pairs of eyes boring into his back.

            "You're too late." He told them. "Once I push this button…" Reno pushed the button, "That's all folks! Mission accomplished."

            "We have to disarm it! Cloud! Barret! Please!"

            At the sound of the pitiful voice, Reno turned and took in his first real view of the terrorists. Well, three of them anyway. About to become none. Talk about pitiful, Reno had seen some motley bands of terrorists before, but this one was something else. He recognized two of them instantly. The swordsman, the apparent ex-Solider. And the barmaid of the Seventh Heaven. She wasn't something you forgot easily once you'd been in to her bar once. Even Rude had openly stared at the cutting figure she made. The third could only be Barret Wallace. Reno had tried to check up on the guy but was hard pressed to find anything useful. Apparently, he was the leader. Reno almost laughed, /he/ was supposed to stop these three from interfering? That guy was almost double the size of Rude! Reno felt a little giddy at the prospect.

            "I can't have you do that. No one gets in the way of Reno of the Turks…"

            With that he struck. He hit a button on his nightstick, catching the big guy within a pyramid of energy. For one thing, he was the most dangerous looking of the three being at least three times bigger than Reno himself. For another, that thing on his arm looked like a goddamn gattling gun! Wallace, trapped, was at least temporarily out of the picture. He was about to turn his attention back to the other two when something stuck him in the head throwing him off balance. Before he could recover he heard someone move off to his side, then the whistle of a huge sword slicing through the air. White hot pain flared up his side. It felt almost like the bastard had opened up the whole left side of him. He clamped his mouth shut over a cry of pain and rolled backwards out of both of his attackers way and back up onto his feet. Every time he moved, pain would erupt along his side and he had to fight to stay conscious. He had to keep his wits for a while longer though. The others weren't back yet, he had to keep fighting.

            Raising his nightstick, he set a bolt of energy at his first attacker, the barmaid, Tifa Lockheart. His aiming was perfect and the force of the hit knocked the woman off her feet. Seeing Strife lunge at him, he rushed to meet the swordsman half-way, evading the arcing sweep of that massive sword and stabbing up with his electro-mag rod. The prongs took the man in the ribs, feeding him a small spark of electricity. With a massive power of will, Strife kicked Reno away and moved in to follow up with a blow with his sword. Reno had been taken off guard and barely had time enough to scuttle away from the sword swing that would have taken his head off. Instead it clipped the back of his shoulder as he moved away. A fresh wave of pain shot down his arm at that and coated the sleeve of his white shirt beneath the jacket, red. He hadn't managed to check the wound on his side yet, but he supposed that part of him probably looked even worse to tell by the vicious pain constantly stabbing him whenever he moved. But that blow to the arm, his left arm, rendered his arm practically useless. Getting back to his feet, Reno faced off with the swordsman and switched his weapon over to his off-hand. This was getting a little too intense for his liking. Cloud looked at the Turk with a cold kind of disdain. Well, nothing Reno wasn't used to. He sent a bolt at Cloud that took the swordsman full in the chest. He didn't go down though. Reno saw Tifa get to her feet out of the corner of his eye and checked the charge on his nightstick. It was getting pretty low. 

            A little groggy, Tifa moved in. Reno blocked the punch aimed for his head but caught the one aimed at his knee. Still, he managed to smash the hard metal nightstick into the side of her head and push her away before Cloud came at him again. Tifa instead went to work on getting Barret loose. Reno was too busy with Cloud to see her progress, but he heard it when the pyramid finally succumbed to her fists and crumbled. Barret took two steps before opening up. One bullet whizzed passed Reno's right ear, another took him in the stomach just as Cloud's sword slashed a red line down his thigh. 

Reno forced himself to his feet, for what he knew would be the last time and faced the three people who would end up killing him. 

What surprised him was that he wasn't either afraid, astonished or angry at the fact. Just very very sorry. Sorry for a lot of things really. But mostly for himself. He stood hunched in front of them, blood practically pouring from the numerous wounds, barely able to keep upright, let alone conscious and in more pain than he could remember being in a long time. But he remained standing… and then he could hear the not so distant thumping of the rotor blades of a Shinra helicopter. 

Avalanche began closing in.

Reno checked his watch. "It's time."

Using the last ounce of strength and thanking whatever god he could for the mako in his system, he jogged (as well as he could) away from his attackers and toward the railing behind the pillar. The chopper roared into view and hovered helpfully just beyond the railing. Climbing over the railing, he made a valiant dive for the open door of the chopper. He half made it, and if it hadn't been for Tseng he would have slid back out. Inside the chopper he crawled away from the doors, slumped down onto the smooth metal floor and closed his eyes.

Later, he was only half aware of a slight cooling breeze sweeping over him, making him feel light, like he was floating. Before the pain took over him once more and he lost consciousness again.

**********

_Notes: Yes, I did have more to that Plate scene. Yes I know I missed a fair bit of dialogue with Tseng and Avalanche. But that will come into play later, be assured. And you wondered why Tseng was so pissy with Avalanche after that battle at the pillar hmmm? *giggles* And wow, did Reno take a beating or what. I've left a lot of things open, had to cut the scene where Reeve saw the pillar being demolished but I've got to cut down somewhere. I'll just have to collect all those scenes and post them later methinks. Neway, apologies for having to read through game stuff again. I know I got at least one complaint about it last time, hence why I cut the meeting short between Reeve, Heidigar and the Prez But there are just some things you can't leave out so unfortunately you'll just have to deal with it._

_See you next chapter_

_AF_

_Btw, if you wanted to know what the hell Reeve wanted to talk to him about check back a couple of chapters folks, I'm sure you'll go 'ooooo'._

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_The Monsters Trilogy and all it's co-stories can be found via the 70th Floor at Neo Midgar_

__

_Plus other stuff and a mailing list to keep you up to date and generally annoy the shit out of you._


	16. Ramifications

What You Do To Me  
  
By AF  
  
Chapter 16 By AF &Ace Ramifications.  
  
He wasn't sure which part of him didn't hurt. Perhaps his nose. Though he wasn't entirely sure.  
The bad side of waking up was realizing just how soundly he'd been beaten. He groaned as he remembered the fight, his loss against the band of terrorists that shouldn't have been that hard for him to handle. And that grief was even before he opened his eyes. When he finally did that, saw where exactly he was and who was here with him, a whole new feeling of pain swept over him making him wince and shut his eyes again. He knew that they had seen he was awake though.  
Tseng stood against the window of the beige hospital room, arms folded across his chest apparently lost in thought. Reeve had been much the same, seated on the chair by Reno's bed, with a tad more concern edged into his features that had instantly vanished the moment Reno had first opened his eyes. Frankly, now he looked pissed off. Reno just didn't want to see it.  
Without opening his eyes, he felt Tseng's weight sit on the bed down by his feet. "You'll be disappointed to know that you'll live," he began. "But injured enough to earn some needed time off. Sick leave for the next week or two. Maybe more depending on how well you mend. You barely came through that one Reno, with the blood you lost you should have died in the chopper."  
"Your right," Reno managed through a dry throat, "I am disappointed."  
Tseng chuckled lightly and patted Reno's leg a few times before getting off the bed and drifting off towards the door. Tseng rarely stayed long when he had to visit the hospital, usually only long enough to make sure whoever he was visiting was going to live then made his escape. Job concerns coupled with a major dislike for hospitals, Reno assumed.  
"I'll come back to check on you later." With that Tseng left the room, softly closing the door behind him.  
Silence. It was so silent in the room after Tseng had left that Reno could swear he could hear Reeve fuming in the chair beside him. It must have dragged on for a good ten minutes before Reno finally got sick of his eyebrow twitching and spoke, risking opening his eyes enough to see Reeve's expression.  
"Say it already will you? I'm going to have a stroke if you keep silent like that."  
"And what do you want me to say?" Reeve asked calmly, bent forward in the chair, staring at his clasped hands.  
Reno sighed heavily, beyond wanting to tiptoe around his friend's feelings. Basically because his guilty mind had already drained him so much already.  
"Fucked if I know. But it hardly matters what I want anymore. Say what you want to say in that utterly Reeve way of saying it. Being all calm, quiet and sad when all you really want to do it yell and scream at me, preferably while beating my head against the wall behind me."  
"You know me so well huh?"  
"Damn straight I do. Probably better than anyone else you know whether you want to believe it or not."  
"So it doesn't really matter what I say anyway then does it, if you already know what I planned to. Then why don't we just skip that part and go onto you giving me your reply. While you may say you know me, I can't say that I have any fucking idea about you."  
That hurt.  
"I didn't tell you cause I didn't want to. You were going through enough and being pissed off at me could wait till later. And the reason I did it? I was ordered to. You said it yourself, we all follow our orders like the well-trained sheep we are and don't question them."  
"That a very simple way of putting it."  
"It's the truth. I have no deep seeded reasons for blowing the pillar other than I was ordered to and if I didn't do it, someone else would have. I knew the risks and I wasn't about to let Tseng or Rude deal with just cause I had some small misgivings about the mission."  
Reeve snorted as though he didn't believe it. "Are you trying to tell me that you didn't agree with blowing the pillar?"  
Reno didn't see the use of lying, but that didn't mean he couldn't be evasive as hell. "Not many sane people would."  
"That's not an answer."  
Reno winced a second time at the implications of that. "Why are you here?" Reno asked suddenly. "If you don't hate me, you don't sound far off. Did you just come here to verbally berate me for following my orders the moment I woke up?"  
"Partially." Reeve looked up at him with a pained expression. "Partially because I was worried about you."  
Reno could only look at him in mute shock. /This/ he hadn't been expecting. Reeve continued, "When Tseng rang me you were in a bad condition." He paused here to scrub a weary hand through his hair. "I came here as soon as I was allowed out of Shinra Building. I didn't find out how you got injured till after." "Sorry you came now, I'll bet." "No. I don't hate you. I just can't understand you sometimes. I knew the Turks were involved with the mission, I just refused to believe how involved. How do you justify doing something like that, orders or not?" "You don't. You don't think about it at all. You think I went through all that Turk training so I had the proper discipline and knowledge necessary to bake cookies?" Reeve stared hard at Reno for some time, making the Turk rather uncomfortable despite himself. "I think I can take solace in something." He responded eventually. "What?" "When I said that I don't know you really, at least I know you a lot more than you do yourself." "What's that supposed to mean?" Reeve sighed heavily and leant back in his chair. "You have a good heart Reno, you've just got to let it think for you on occasion. Because believe me, your brain isn't the most socially aware part of your make-up." Reno had to think on that for a while. "Compliment or insult?" "Both." Reeve answered. "Are you really that sore at me?" "Considering you just had a hand in murdering hundreds of people, I think I'm taking it very lightly when I say a simple 'yes'. But it's not like you plotted this thing yourself or at all. I just need time to think." "Do you think that's wise?" "No, not particularly."  
  
Reno's doctors had told Reeve that the Turk needed to stay in hospital for further observation and Reeve wasn't really in the mood to be hanging around in the sick smelling hospital any longer than it had taken him to see how the man was doing and work through some concerns. He didn't really blame Reno as much as he supposed he would. That surprised him considering Reno's involvement in last night's events. But he guessed the truth was that too much had come down on him at once for Reeve to properly deal with. The last week had seemed like some impossibly insane dream where the company he worked for had begun murdering people for no great cause and terrorists seemed to have even more control and guts than ever. So much death and destruction, sleepless nights and worrying about his own ethics and morals had all come down on him that night in the model room where Reno had found him. Where Reno had come and offered him an ear and some comfort while he could. And Reeve had clung to that comfort as though it would save him, cause him to wake up from this unbelievable dream and make everything all right again. Incredibly selfish of him to be thinking of how much he suffered while so many more were hurt or dying, but he felt it nonetheless. Reno had come and soothed him, then told him to wait for him.  
  
Slowly, carefully, he eased away from Reeve and looked into his friend's bloodshot eyes. "I won't lie to you. Things are tense. But if you believe for one second that this has anything to do with you, that it's in any way your fault, you're a bigger idiot than those who are truly responsible." Reno ducked his head to catch Reeve's lowering gave. "No matter what happens. Do you understand?" Reeve nodded vaguely. "I mean it." Reno persisted. "No matter what, say it." "No matter what." Reno watched him for a second before nodding himself, seeing that his words were getting through finally. He curled his fingers 'round the back of Reeve's neck and held the other man for another moment before reluctantly releasing him. "Now I want you to go down to the café and get something to eat." Reno told him in his best version of a parental voice. It wasn't very good. "You've got to be kidding. If I eat anything I'll be sick." "Try." Reeve was quiet for a moment while he watched Reno watching him. "Okay. Reno," He began looking up from the floor, "when you, I mean after you come back. Can we talk? If you're not busy, of course. I just, I want to tell you something." Completely mystified looking, Reno merely shrugged, "Sure. If that's what you want." He checked his watch. "I better get going. Are you going to be okay?" Reeve managed a rather wonky and not at all convincing smile. "Sure. /I'll/ live." Again those unspoken words drifted in between them. "You'll wait for me here?" "I'll be here."  
  
Reeve had waited. For many hours. He had stayed right where he was, staring down at his great accomplishment in model form while the building shook with slight tremors and throughout the imagined screams of the dying in his head. Waited until Tseng had managed to get a call through to him telling him about what had happened to Reno. That earlier comfort he'd felt had dissolved in a moment's conversation with Tseng leaving him with a weary kind of hurt. Probably what had made him lash out at Reno in the first place among other things. And with that lost comfort, the dream had solidified. This was the harsh reality of it and no fancies of his were going to make it otherwise, better or worse. It just wasn't important anymore. He could only hope that Reno didn't remember about that conversation in the model room with too much clarity.  
  
On the way home, Reeve only stopped in at his apartment long enough to change his clothes and have a shower. He stood in his bedroom, staring at his still made bed with a kind of longing want. But realized almost instantly how futile that endeavor would probably be and he could think of nothing worse than lying in bed for hours unable to get to sleep while his mind swirled.  
Not that he was particularly taken with the idea of going straight back into work either, but it was the lesser of two particularly bad evils of the moment, and Reeve realized that people would be counting on him after the accident and didn't want Kattie and the others to have to deal with something possibly a little too beyond their limited knowledge of the situation. Reeve knew what had truly happened, the others didn't. And he knew with growing conviction that he simply did not want to have them find out either. He didn't want them to lose faith like he had.  
So after only the most basic grooming, Reeve was back out the door and heading toward the Shinra tower.  
  
*  
  
"I didn't expect to see you in for work today."  
Tseng had met him on the way in; currently they were riding in the elevator toward the top floors. Tseng had left the hospital before him and Reeve was surprised that they had arrived at the same time. Then again, who knew where Tseng had been and what he was doing most of the time. More top secret Shinra work for the good of Midgar, Reeve guessed sourly.  
"Have to do something." Reeve told him, keeping his eyes on the red- lighted numbers indicating the proper floors. "Besides, I need to survey the damage from last night. No doubt the President will want a report on all monetary damages." Reeve almost snapped.  
A lightly tanned hand snaked out and hit the elevator stop button, bring the cab to a halt. Tseng came around the stand in front of Reeve, deliberately putting his back to the camera mounted up high near the doors of the cab.  
"Reeve," he said quietly, "go home."  
"At least I finally got you to call me by my first name." Reeve noticed uncaring of the implied order.  
"I'm serious. Do not deal with this today. You're tired, disillusioned and worried. Everyone is. You will do yourself no good letting the other executives see you this way."  
"Everyone?" Reeve echoed. "Everyone but the Turks you mean. None of you look particularly different. You think you're the only ones that can pretend to be uncaring?"  
"We are the only ones that should have to. And for Leviathan's sake, keep your voice down!"  
Reeve gazed at Tseng dangerously. "Get out of my face."  
Tseng looked at little surprised at that for a moment before his expression hardened once more. "I'll let that go because you are too tired and angry to know better. Though I am beginning to wonder whatever happened to out shy insecure and kind executive."  
Reeve reached past Tseng and flicked the switch to get the elevator going once again. "Same thing that happened to so many others last night, he died. Shinra killed him."  
"Cut the self righteous crap!" Tseng hissed. "You aren't the only one in the city that cares."  
"I know. And that makes it worse. Excuse me."  
Reeve stepped out of the elevator at his floor, the floors sliding closed behind him leaving Tseng alone for his trip to the President's office.  
You never really thought they'd go through with it did you? Tseng realized silently. Not even when you found out about the plan. You never realized until after it was too late.  
Tseng didn't realize until that point just how correct he'd been with the disillusioned statement.  
And it's too late to simply quit now. He thinks he's one of us.  
And Tseng knew the danger of that feeling, he'd felt it once himself, a very long time ago.  
  
*  
  
"Well, you look like shit," Jeff commented rather callously before receiving a more subtle kick underneath the small conference table causing him to add, "Sir."  
Kattie closed her eyes and shook her head from her position next to him.  
Reeve wasn't really paying attention to either of them. He just dumped his briefcase down at the head of the table and looked at it for a while as though he expected it to open itself. When it appeared not to do so, Reeve seemed to decide to sit down at his seat at the head of the table. His four assembled colleagues shared odd looks.  
"I expect you want us to go down to the site of the latest attack to collate the damages," Kat prompted trying to get the meeting going.  
Reeve leant back in his chair and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Don't bother. The whole sector has been obliterated."  
"But, Sir-" Kattie began.  
"Oh, I want you to assess the damages. Just assume that nothing from Sector Seven survived the incident, you don't need to see it first hand, trust me."  
A woman with gray eyes and pale hair was chewing on her pen in a pensive fashion. She stopped suddenly and blurted, "How can we be so casual about this? We /do/ realize what happened don't we?"  
The guy beside her looked decidedly uncomfortable at the outburst. "Sue, don't be so dire. Terrorists attack all the time." He gave Reeve a quick uncomfortable glance. "This isn't the time to talk about it."  
Reeve had seen the look and appeared to be puzzling out the meaning. Obviously he knew that he was the reason Ken hadn't wanted to talk about the subject now and Kat couldn't see why that was so confusing.  
"Why not?" Reeve challenged quietly. He gave his colleagues a quick glance. "You all obviously have something on your minds."  
Sue was being scowled at rather harshly, but she plunged on regardless. "You've got to admit that it's all a bit weird." She licked her lips nervously before continuing. "Everybody has been so jumpy lately, I mean, since when did we start calling you 'Sir', for example."  
Reeve didn't look like he'd been expecting her to say that. Oddly enough, he almost smiled. "/That/ what's bothering you?"  
"No, it was just an example of how uptight everyone's been acting. And now terrorists manage to drop a whole plate section and Shinra couldn't do one thing to stop them? I mean sure, we've all heard about those troopers getting killed and that Turk that was injured, but still, we weren't able to stop it. What, do these terrorists have an army or something? And what /were/ the Turks doing? From all reports they got there quick enough, but the plate still dropped."  
She looked a little embarrassed after she'd finished. But she kept her chin up and kept her eyes firmly planted on Reeve. Kat had winced a little when she'd heard about the Turk being injured. She knew who it had been and felt a little guilty. Not guilty because he'd been hurt, guilty because she had for a small moment wished he was one of the assumed dead. She was still smarting over their conversation yesterday.  
"Is this something you're all wondering about?" Reeve asked the room in general.  
Something about Reeve's mood was worrying her a little. He was being way too calm about something she knew must have upset him a great deal. This was one of the few times that reminded Kat strongly that Reeve was her superior and therefore probably knew a lot more about what was going on than they did. He was acting like, well, a superior.  
The room didn't respond for a while. Finally Jeff mumbled, "Well there have been rumors."  
"Like what?"  
"Like maybe the Turks knew about it more in advance and didn't tell anybody."  
Reeve waited for a moment longer, but nothing else was forthcoming. "Whatever, it's not our department and you should all know better than to listen to rumors."  
Both Ken and Jeff looked happy now that Reeve had apparently straightened out that particular mess for them, but Sue was still watching Reeve was a rather doubtful expression on her face. Kat suddenly wished she talked to Sue more often, but they were hardly ever around each other and when they were they didn't tend to get along very well.  
The meeting then went onto allocating jobs for the day in order to assess the damage to Sector Seven. Aside from the tragedy of what had happened, the whole meeting went on in a familiar fashion, except for the aura of cold that seemed to hang in the air over the table. Both Jeff and Ken did what they could to dispel it, but both Sue and Reeve seemed too absorbed in other things to really take notice.  
Finally the meeting came to a halt and everyone pulled themselves to their feet except for Reeve who was staring at the tabletop, apparently in deep thought. Kat lagged behind the others waiting for them to leave before her. When they had, she shut the door after them and turned her back on it, steeling herself before she spoke up. Reeve hadn't noticed she'd stayed behind, he hadn't moved since he'd told them that they had been dismissed.  
Kat came over and sat in the seat Ken had vacated. "Reeve?"  
Reeve started slightly and looked up quickly. "Something wrong?"  
"No, not really. You just seem a bit, preoccupied."  
Reeve didn't respond at first. "And you wondered why?"  
"Well, no." Kat admitted a little embarrassed. "That's pretty obvious. But I thought there might be something more. Something you might like to talk about?"  
Reeve watched her intently for a moment before, surprisingly, a little huff of laughter escaped his lips. "I don't think you'd want to listen. Trust me."  
Kat leant across and put her hand over one of his resting flat on the table. "I'd listen gladly, if it would help."  
Reeve looked down at her hand with a puzzled expression before moving his hand from underneath hers and standing up. "It's nothing important, okay?" He grabbed his briefcase and left before she could even open her mouth to reply.  
Kat looked at her deserted hand. "Nothing important." She sighed, "You're a terrible liar Reeve."  
  
***  
  
"In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients. I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet!"  
  
Tseng stood unmoving in front of the glass, gazing into the room beyond. His jaw was set so tightly, it was beginning to ache, but he ignored it. He longed to turn away from the glass, but he made himself watch. He'd done this. He'd gloated over it. He /had/ to watch.  
The room beyond looked like an autopsy room rather than a lab. But really, it wasn't that much like an autopsy room because the people being poked and prodded at in this room weren't dead. They merely wished they were.  
  
"We want you to return Aeris to us. We've been searching for her for a very long time."  
  
To Tseng he felt as though he'd been searching for her his whole life. Of course, it hadn't really been searching. He had known perfectly well where Aeris had been. He had just never done anything about it apart from visiting her and trying to convince her to return. It had suited them both fine. Aeris ignored his sometimes half-hearted pestering, and he never had to feel guilty about giving her over to Hojo and the life of pain that was sure to follow. At least, not until he'd had a chance to talk to Reno.  
  
"When were you going to tell me about all this?"  
"About all what?" Reno asked stupidly toward the reflected image of Tseng.  
Tseng stalked across the tiles and grabbed Reno's shoulder, twisting his Turk around to face him properly.  
"Don't play dumb, Reno. The extra assignments. It has been vexing me for some time, what you were up to. But I understand now. Kramer, Aeris now you're suddenly the one in charge of blowing the Plate? You're working directly for Heidigar and the President. What for, spying on me?"  
Reno shook his head weakly. "No. I'm not a spy. That's all I can tell you."  
Tseng took a menacing step closer, so close that Reno could feel his boss's warm breath touch his face. "Oh, you'll tell me Reno."  
"I've been ordered not to."  
Tseng didn't seem to like this answer. "By whom?"  
"Heidigar."  
"So," Tseng began again, a touch more calmly, "You're not a spy, but you are working, not under my command, but under the command of Heidigar and the President doing odd jobs for them. I don't suppose you can tell me why?"  
Reno tried to appear nonchalant. "I've been trying to work that out myself actually. I figure it's because I'm more expendable than you. If I get caught doing something especially nasty, then who cares. But you, they don't want to lose their star Turk. Besides, it's not regular Turk stuff. Heidigar calls it house cleaning."  
"I realize that. I meant, why you? Why not Rude."  
Here Reno figured he could just shrug and say he didn't know. But there was no use lying to Tseng. "Rude I suppose doesn't have the same, uh, history I guess. Never send a sane man to do work for the deranged." It was meant to be a joke, but his boss wasn't laughing.  
"I understand. Caryla tried to warn me about your perfect work ethic." Tseng replied bitterly. "You killed her."  
"I can't talk about that."  
"Can't or won't?"  
"Does it make any fucking difference?" Reno shot back. He had tried to remain submissive, but the constant questions were more than irritating. Mostly because Tseng had every right to be asking them. "They just wanted a Turk who would do all the really nasty things without question or thought. At the time I didn't see a problem getting a little extra cash and furthering my career. You're their perfect Turk Tseng, but I'm their perfect psychopath. If I burn out, fine, they lose their psychopath, but they still have their Turks. I'm not spying on you, they don't want to get rid of you, they just didn't want me to tell you because they knew you'd complain. They're trying to make you happy, not undermine you. So for fuck's sake, just let it go!"  
  
After that eye-opening episode, Tseng had understood everything. It wasn't a secret that Hojo was getting impatient with Tseng about finding the Ancient. Sooner or later they would have sent Reno after her in his place with explicit orders to capture her no matter what. And that was if they hadn't already done it. It would explain a lot about Reno's mysterious disappearance that afternoon. And Reno would have done everything within his power to obey that order short of killing the girl. Tseng was actually very surprised that, if Reno had already been sent after her, he'd been thwarted in his attempt.  
But for once, Tseng was glad of Reno's bad luck. There was no way that the younger Turk could have known exactly what carrying out that assignment meant. At least, not the full implications.  
But this was something Tseng was used to; he'd done it before. Been responsible for a life of torment at the hands of Shinra. He could handle that again. Couldn't he? Knowing what he'd done.  
  
"No! Never!"  
  
At least he knew he could far better than Reno would be able to.  
  
"Aeris, you're a very special child. You are of special blood. Your real mother was an 'Ancient'. The Ancients will lead us to a land of supreme happiness."  
  
Did he truly believe that? Could it be possible that such a physical land existed. To Tseng it had always sounded like religious dogma to him. If you lead a life of goodness and right, you will someday be rewarded after your death for an eternity in heaven. That made it sound as though the ancients would lead them all to their deaths.  
  
"Aeris will be able to bring happiness to all those in the slums. That is why Shinra would like Aeris' cooperation."  
  
He really should have known better. A blind dormouse could have seen through that lie. Shinra wanted all the monetary gain such a land might give them. Fertile land such as described in the myth could only be rich in Mako. It only made Tseng wonder at the nature of the myth all the more. Was the old man really searching for some intangible goal because he had simply run out of reach on this mortal plane? After all, what was having everything if there was never more to gain in Shinra philosophy?  
  
"He's wrong! I'm not an Ancient! I'm not!"  
  
Whatever the reason, even now he could not contemplate what the gain was worth next to the cost to accomplish that. After everything they had gone through to reach this point, they were still pushing at something nobody was even sure truly existed.  
  
"But Aeris, surely you hear voices sometimes when you're all alone?"  
  
Voices? Tseng drew in a sharp breath. How could he have been so blind?  
  
"No, I don't!"  
  
"Aeris," Tseng said softly, touching the glass, the flat image of the girl on the other side with his fingertips. Even if she couldn't hear him or see him, it didn't matter. "I wish I could be more sorry. But I don't think that's possible." He removed his hand. "You're not that crazy after all are you?"  
From somewhere inside his jacket, his PHS started ringing.  
"What now?" Tseng asked wearily, hauling out the device.  
it was Rude,   
Tseng turned away from the glass in disgust. "Just for a change."  
  
***  
  
Outside he was cool, calm, professional. Everything they could possibly hope for. But inside, inside he felt too numb he wondered if he could even lift his head to give his report.  
Rufus wasn't here. Nor was Tseng or any of the Turks.  
Reeve felt very alone.  
"The Vice-President tells me that the public opinion is swinging the way we want it," Heidigar was saying. "He's quite confident that we wont have any problems in that regard."  
"Good," was the President's cool reply. Nothing more. Reeve viciously rubbed his eyebrow in order to hide his scowl at the lack of emotion. But for once he was wishing he could emulate it. He was trying, but he was having a difficult time of it.  
"Reeve? You said you had something to add?" Reeve took a deep breath. "We have the damage estimates for Sector Seven," he began calmly, "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximately ten billion gil." Personally he hadn't been surprised at the figure, but it was surprising to see that the President didn't even twitch at the news. Even if money /was/ the only thing on the old man's mind, he should have at least lamented about that particular news. Reeve plunged on. "The estimated cost to rebuild Sector Seven is." "We're not rebuilding." Totally unable to hide his shock now, Reeve swung his head around to face the President. "What?" The President however, didn't look happy to have to repeat himself. "We're leaving Sector Seven as it is. And restarting the Neo-Midgar plan." Reeve arranged a look onto his face that he hoped appeared thoughtful. He was now beginning to realize why Rufus had been ordered to tell him as much as he had about Shinra's little secrets. This was a big part of those secrets, a part they ultimately needed Reeve for. ".then, the Ancients?" he ventured. The President waved a dismissive hand in his direction. "The Promised Land will soon be ours. I want you to raise the Mako rates fifteen percent in every area." All of his careful composure, his attempts to remain in the state of mind the President seemed to wish him to maintain was shattered in a heartbeat. He realized then that a small part of him was still hoping that this was all somehow an untruth. His friends had been right, he was naive. "Rate hike! Rate hike!" Palmer sang out happily as Reeve clenched his fist underneath the conference table. He had never wanted to hurt somebody as he did Palmer in that instant as the madly happy man went on about the possibility of more money. "And please include our Space Program in the budget!" The President seemed just as annoyed by the outburst and thankfully fixed Palmer with a cold stare inducing the man to settle down and remain quiet. "Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase." "Oh man!" Beside him, Scarlet smiled smugly and gave Reeve a wink. She was obviously very happy about the outcome of the meeting. Reeve just couldn't force himself to be though. He knew where that extra money was going. "Sir, if you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence." Reeve tried pathetically. "It'll be all right. The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra Inc. even more." After that display last night you mean, Reeve thought. But he kept silent. Across the room Heidigar laughed. "After all, we're the ones who saved Sector Seven from Avalanche!" Underneath the table, Reeve's leg incurred a light kick from Scarlet. Her look was telling him not to make a fuss. He might have been thankful if he knew it was from a comradely kindness rather than him maybe spoiling her chance at a budget increase. As it turned out, he wouldn't have had a chance to say anything. The doors to the boardroom opened admitting a smug looking Hojo. He walked over to the opposite end of the table and favored them all with a narrow eyed glance. "Hojo." The President greeted almost warmly for a change. "How's the girl?"  
  
********  
  
Notes: Naturally I didn't catch myself up like I'd planned. Again. Chapter Seventeen was meant to include Junon, but it won't now. Instead chapter Seventeen the making of the bloody mess (literally of you remember) through the Shinra Building. One I'm actually looking forward to since I don't have to write from the perspective of Avalanche but one of Shinra's workers who might actually witness some of the carnage. Guess who it'll be huh?  
I was going to have the capture of Avalanche at the end of this chapter, instead I just implied that it was going to happen as Tseng was called away. I basically didn't add it because it was put to me that it took away from the initial ending. I kind of agree. Also, I didn't repeat too much of the conference because it was in the game and I've had a few complaints and people skipping over parts they find boring because they already know how it turns out.  
But anyway, looks as though Reno's out of it for a little while. At least for the bulk of the next chapter. I usually like writing from Reeve's perspective, but it's getting a little tough since I'm never entirely sure what he should be feeling about it all. Ambivalence seems to be the best I can pull off unfortunately. But I think it works at least a little for the moment. He's obviously a very confused man right now about more things that the ethics of his job or his less than stable relationship with his best friend. I'm actually afraid of shattering his mind in the next little episode. Whoops. Oh well, I'm sure I could fix him afterwards in the nicest possible way ;)  
Stay tuned,  
AF  
  
anime_fearie@excite.com All Monsters Trilogy facial spasms proudly bought to you by Neo Midgar  
  
Satan's weekend retreat 


	17. It's Over, Isn't It?

What You Do To Me.

_By AF_

**Chapter 17**

It's Over, Isn't it?

            "Go home."

            It wasn't as if he didn't want to. But here there was work to do.

            "Very few people choose to ignore me."

            That was the great thing about this job. Possibly the only great thing that he had been able to find in his job lately. Whenever he felt the dire need to bury himself in something that required little personal thinking and a whole lot of distracting objectivity, he could find mounds of the stuff sitting patiently on his desk and the desks of his co-workers to keep him busy for as long as he wished.

            "I've had a trying day. If you don't leave the Tower on your own, I'll do it by force."

Reeve tapped a few more keys on his computer and frowned at the screen.

            "This is childish." Tseng continued standing just inside the door to Reeve's office. He wore this look of barely concealed irritation that was used mainly in dealing with Reno and Rufus.

            Reeve made a note into a nearby book with a pen before turning back to his computer.

            The expression on Tseng's face wasn't as easily concealed now. "It's over, Mr. Evans. Avalanche have been captured."

            "So you told me." Reeve finally answered in an aggravated tone. "If that's the case shouldn't you be off interrogating or torturing them or whatever it is Turks do?"

            "And what would that serve? What could they possibly tell me that I don't already know?"

            "Have to make it look good don't you?" Reeve asked still gazing at his screen. "They /were/ responsible for the damage on two reactors not to mention the demolition of an entire Plate Sector."

            "Sanctimonious tones tend to irritate me. I'm trying to be concerned about you."

            "Really? I thought a moment ago you were threatening me."

            Tseng made a disgusted sort of snort and turned to leave. "Have it your way. Stay here."

            Reeve did look up from his work, but not until after Tseng had left. 

            He honestly didn't see what the big deal was. According to the logs, few of the other executives had actually left for the night. That would be fairly surprisingly if it had been a typical day. It was nearing midnight and still Palmer, Heidigar nor the President had left yet. Even Hojo had packed it in for the day, his experiment being kept in the custody of Shinra security until morning.

            But this was not exactly a typical Shinra day. In fact it had been the longest day Reeve could remember. That could've had something to do with the fact that Reeve hadn't actually slept in a while. He couldn't believe that it had only been the night before that the Pillar had been blown. It felt longer. He'd not had any sleep since the morning before that had happened and even then it hadn't been for very long. 

            The funny thing was though that he didn't feel like he could sleep. He'd achieved some sort of state post sleepiness. He was over-tired. Weary, cranky, sure, but at the same time over-alert. Like he'd just swallowed ten cups of coffee within ten minutes but wasn't exactly getting that little hyper high either.

            Reeve did want to go home and try and sleep, but he was afraid to try. He would rather just keep working till he passed out from exhaustion. At least then he could keep his mind busy with other thoughts right up until the point of sleep. Basically he just didn't think he had enough work at home for him to last through the night.

            There was another reason too. Reeve couldn't help but be curious as the why all the other executives were still here after a point where Reeve, the workaholic, would've even called it quits. The President after all usually left by three in the afternoon let alone Palmer.

            Tseng probably thought that Reeve was still here because he wanted to see Avalanche. Talk to them, demand answers from the people that blew two of his reactors into charred heaps. But Tseng was wrong. Avalanche were a bunch of terrorists and he wasn't interested in blaming them or knowing their motives. 

            No, months of working with Rufus had instilled in him a healthy curiosity in his fellow workers. That there was more to this whole mess that Reeve didn't yet know, he was sure. And he desperately wanted to know what that was.

***

            "They made it easy."

            Tseng sighed and scrubbed a weary hand over his face. Since Reno was injured, Reeve had refused to stop working and Rufus hadn't been allowed to stop working, the usual drink at the bar after an especially fucked up day was left for only Tseng and Rude to attend. Normally they probably wouldn't have bothered. Rude usually took any opportunity to go home early to Maggie and Tseng usually preferred his quiet apartment and an interesting book over the raucous bar crowd any day. But Rude was now single, still very newly so, and Tseng basically just wasn't in the mood to spend the night on his own.

            "Maybe they thought they were being tricky." Rude offered.

            They weren't all by themselves of course. Reno's trainee had seemed to invite herself after hearing about the little bar trip. Currently she was off getting a round for herself and her fellow co-workers. Frankly, Tseng was glad of the reprieve. 

            "I doubt it." Tseng answered. "Only a simpleton would assume that they could brazenly walk around the Tower and not be spotted by cameras and security. A fact I am coming to believe might just be that little terrorist group's problem."

            "You think their leader's an idiot." Rude guessed.

            As Tseng thought about it he played over their capture in his head. 

            Rude had called him away from the lab because the intruder's had been spotted. After the group had managed to subdue a number of guards, the Turks had finally caught up with them in the floor by floor elevator somewhere around the same level Tseng had been on in the first place. He had to give them credit though. In the time Tseng had been away from the lab, Avalanche had managed to liberate Aeris along with another of Hojo's more interesting test subjects and made a break for the elevator. Even if Tseng and Rude hadn't managed to catch them in the elevator, the alerted security team would have gotten them in the lobby. Secretly, Tseng assumed that it was this knowledge that had made him act at all. He had sure waited until the last minute to act on the breach of security. He knew Rude had seen his hesitation, but he doubted the stoic Turk knew just how deeply Tseng had surreptitiously wished Avalanche might escape. Not because he was sympathetic to their cause. Avalanche could have been boiled alive for all he cared, but they had rescued Aeris. It wouldn't have been Tseng's fault if she had escaped. After all, the Turks weren't building security.

            They had come to rescue their captured comrade. A rescue attempt that had never been so successfully performed in the past. Basically, Tower security had been caught with their pants down on this score. Because nobody ever had the guts to do it, they assumed no one ever would.

            "I don't think this Wallace is an idiot." Tseng corrected. "I just believe that the person who put him in charge might very well be."

            Rude watched his boss silently over the rim of his glass for a while before voicing his next thought. 

            "What's wrong?"

            Tseng's brow creased in vague annoyance. "Nothing I wish to discuss with you." He answered bluntly.

            It wasn't meant as an insult and Rude didn't take it as one. It was just Tseng's way of telling Rude to form his own opinions about the day rather than be persuaded by Tseng. Given Tseng's own worries, it was probably for the best.

            Just lately, Tseng had entertained thoughts he'd never bothered with before. He'd never bothered with them because of the absolute unlikelihood of him ever getting to a point where it might one day become an option to him. And that thought had been about retirement. 

            Technically Tseng was still a little too young to be thinking such thoughts. But in all truth he had served Shinra for more than two thirds of his life and he could barely remember what life had been like before he had been a Turk. Recruited into the Solider program at sixteen, he had been a Turk trainee before his fifteenth birthday. He was now forty eight, an age most Turks could be proud of achieving. And for thirty two years he had been in Shinra's employ. But only recently had he really realized it fully. Only recently had he begun to think of a life outside Shinra. 

He could leave Midgar, perhaps go home. That was an astonishing thought. Before now he had avoided ever going to Wutai since he had left, a large part of him ashamed of what people might think of him now working for their enemy. They had no idea what Tseng was trying to accomplish by being with Shinra, and he really didn't want to explain it to them. Most of the people he knew in Wutai when he was young were most probably gone now and enough time had passed for those who hadn't gone to possibly forgive and forget. 

For the first time since joining Shinra, he actually felt like explaining it to them. Explaining his life choices and letting them judge him. For the first time in over three decades, Tseng was truly homesick.

            Or perhaps, Tseng thought balefully as he casually watched the citizens of Midgar around the bar, he was just getting sick of his current home.

            He also thought that it would abhor President Shinra to think that his star Turk was getting sick of playing Death. Tseng had as strong a stomach as they came, but even he was starting to feel a little nauseous at the thought of what had transpired this last week. Reactors exploding, entire Sectors dying. It was civil war in the most populated city in the world and Tseng had the most unsettling feeling that it wasn't about to get better. Not after today. Not when he had captured Aeris for the second time and saw that Avalanche, the most destructive terrorist faction the city had ever faced were not about the be cowed by the brute force of Shinra. Even captured, probably to be eventually put to death, they had given Tseng an insight of what to expect in the future of Midgar. These people, individually, were not exceptional people as far as Tseng could tell: fighters of some skill that had been horribly wronged by Shinra in the past. Those frankly were a gil a dozen these days. How long would it take for another group like these to rise up and threaten the heavy-handed caretaker of the city once again? Tseng gave it six months, tops.

            It wasn't that Tseng was scared of being a part of Shinra when the next group came up to challenge their residing tyrant. Internally he figured he deserved anything that might befall him personally for everything he had done in that tyrant's name. He just wanted the opportunity to live another life away from the upcoming struggle, as brief as it may be.

            If only he could still believe in what he was doing, he could probably find comfort enough to want to stay. But he'd lost those beliefs a long time ago now and he was weary of following orders by rote. The conversation with Reeve in the elevator earlier had reminded him strongly of that.

            And he knew without a doubt that if he voiced any of these thoughts to Rude or Reno, they'd probably agree with him. Another two disillusioned souls on his conscience. If Rude and Reno could sense what was coming, they'd get out in their own time with or without Tseng's help. And he firmly believed it was better that way.

            In time, Rude would probably leave. He'd wake up to himself, stop pretending to be blind and follow Maggie out of the city.

            Reno…well…when it came down to it, Tseng didn't know what to expect. Reno probably had enough sense left to understand the import of the latest going-ons, but it would be far more difficult for the young leader-to-be to make the ultimate decision to leave. Out of the two, he was the one with the most reason to stay and the least reason to leave. That year and a half was the longest time Reno had ever been out of the city of his birth. He knew nothing other than Midgar and had no other home to go to like Tseng, Rude and even Elena had. And more importantly, /no one/ to go to. When it came down to it, Tseng more than suspected Reno would go down with the metaphorically doomed ship.

            Hopefully, he wouldn't take Rude down with him when it went. There was always the possibility that one wouldn't leave without the other. Neither of them shared Tseng's belief in self-decision. Probably because they hadn't had the experiences that Tseng had had. For all the relatively short time they had been Turks there had been few interlopers into their little trio. They had become closely bonded and way too dependent on each other.

            While Reno might be capable of making firm decisions on his own, Rude was less likely to leave his friend behind to face the dim future alone, not matter what he privately believed. Only a great force of will would change that.

            Sure that force of will was already at work inside of Rude plainly visible in his attempts to fill the gulf in his heart Maggie had left when she'd packed her bags and implored him to leave with her. But there was no telling how long it would last.

            But for Tseng, it was two more months. Two more months playing his part as well as he could before he decided that enough was enough. The timing had particular relevance to him and he felt that he owed it to himself to make it that far. After that, technically too young or not, Shinra could hardly deny him his newest desire to finally return home.

            "Both of you look like you ought to be at a funeral rather than at a bar." Elena stated as she retook her place at the table. Tseng hadn't realized how much he'd zoned.

            Rude was watching him carefully, his eyes offering Tseng the comfort of an obviously much-needed ear. But Tseng refused to give in. There were few people who would understand anyway, and he felt firm to his belief that neither of those people could be Rude or Reno.

            There were, however, others who might need to hear what he had to say. For their own goods.

***

            Rufus stepped got out of his car and shut the door with a satisfyingly loud slam that echoed throughout the near empty underground car park area. 

            He didn't care about the noise he was making. As far as he was concerned most people should be lucky that he was taking out his frustrations on his car rather than what it was really directed at. 

            The idea alone that he was forced to come all the way into the Shinra Tower after the day he'd had was making him flush hot and angry whenever he had to think about it, and that small inconvenience was a mere trifle in comparison. 

            PR was not entirely his field. And he could begin to see why. It was less to do with Promotional work and more to do with damage control. Talking to various officials, press and the like, informing them about events that had happened including the why, who and what is going to be done about it and finally dealing with questions, worries and making promises he couldn't possibly keep. Couldn't keep basically because half of the information he'd told them wasn't in the least bit true in the first place.

            If one more person asked him about the number of fatalities caused by the latest devastation, he was going to start shooting people. 

That bought Rufus back to the latest thing he'd taken to doing. Because of this rampant behavior by the terrorists he'd been forced to arm himself. It wasn't as if Rufus was unused to weapons - he'd been trained in the use of various weapons from a young age by the Turks and Soldier - but he'd rarely ever felt the need to keep one on his person. 

            He didn't have a favorite, he was above average with just about anything designed to do real damage to a person. But in this particular instance he'd gone for destructive power rather than showy finesse and had, under his coat, a shotgun resting in a specially made holster. 

            Halfway through the day he'd started to regret his decision. The heavy gun felt uncomfortable and so far today he'd managed to jam it into his ribs at least four times.

            Naturally, that was irritating him too.

            To top his day off, his father wanted him to report. Tonight. And the old bastard hadn't left work yet. 

            Rufus found this only mildly surprising. It wasn't unheard of for the President to stay late after a busy day, but Rufus still found it surprising that he had wanted his son to drag himself all the way in here, tonight, to make his report personally. Obviously the President was taking the public's favor seriously this time. 

            With a scowl firmly planted on his face, Rufus stalked off toward the elevators.

*

            The 65th Floor was naturally quiet. Most 'normal' people had gone home a long time ago.

            In fact, Kat wasn't quite sure why she was still here.

            It could have had something to do with the pile of work still unfinished on her desk. It could have had more to do with the nearly constant dilemma of the workings of the reactors now that two of them were in deep repair and one had incurred a little damage with the destruction of the sector it was catering for. 

            To be utterly honest though, it probably had more to do with the fact that Reeve was still here.

            She had checked on him a few minutes ago, and he was in still the same position she'd seen him in ten minutes before that. Slumped over his desk, fast asleep. She couldn't blame him. People weren't meant to go for such long periods of time without sleep and she hadn't wanted to wake him to tell him to go home. He probably wouldn't go anyway.

            Kattie sighed and picked up the folder outlining the damage for sector seven that she had snagged off Reeve's desk the last time she had checked on him. Apparently Rufus had just come into work and wanted it now. Typical assuming that someone was even here that could get it to him.

            Then again, she supposed, she wasn't the only one around here that knew exactly what Reeve was like.

*

            Below the darkened lab in a holding tank partially obscured by various crates something moved. 

            A dark shape standing outside the tank stepped up to the softly glowing viewing glass and looked in. The shape was little more than a shadow, barely there. No casual passerby would even have noticed the apparition. But the occupant of the tank knew something was there. Someone. It had, after all, been waiting a long time for this.

            The glass of the viewing window lit up with a bright green glow as the creature inside readied itself, collected it's power and made to expand it in one more attempt at escape. This time it wouldn't fail. He wouldn't fail. They wouldn't fail. They couldn't.

            Shinra had made it so. Their greed was responsible.

            It was a race now. And one They did not intend to lose.

            The figure placed a ghostly hand over the glass that would have been scorching to touch and caressed the smooth surface. A crack appeared underneath the figure's hand.

            "Mother, it's time."

*

            Across the world, various few people were stopped in their lives.

            Special individuals woke from sleep or were stopped dead in the streets, a cold fear overcoming them and stealing the air from their lungs.

            All of these people had very few things in common, except for one thing. This one thing was what gripped their souls and invaded their minds leaving them shaking, sweating and scared in the end when it finally left them.

            Cassian sat up in bed, the sheets around him damp with sweat. But he was shivering. The feeling had left, leaving him looking around his dark bedroom with a faintly glazed look in his eyes. He swallowed heavily, threw back the sheets and got to his unsteady feet. He stood there for a while, forcing his lungs to take in some air and willing his body to stop shivering.

            It didn't work.

            Grabbing his clothes he hastily dressed, still in the dark. As he went to head out the door he paused for a moment. Almost as an afterthought, he grabbed his sword as well and left the bedroom. A moment later his apartment door bumped softly shut.

*****

_Notes: Short, I know. But I got carried away in the lead up. Thought I'd best just leave it in a teasing cliffhanger huh? Teehee._

_            Wow, a whole chapter without Reno in it, scared yet? Well, odds are he mightn't be in the next one either. But hey, I don't plan this so it might not be true. I mainly wanted Reeve, Tseng and Rufus to star in this little episode for very good reasons I won't get into right now. You'll see._

_            So, can anybody remember what happens next?_

_            AF_

_anime_fearie@excite.com_

_For all your Monsters needs_

__

_In case you're bored._


	18. The Blood Trail

What You Do To Me.

_By AF_

**Chapter 18**

By AF & Ace.

The Blood Trail.

            Reeve awoke so suddenly he jerked himself back into a sitting position instantly before he even realized what had happened. For a few moments he gazed vacantly around his office blinking a few times in the light, trying to work out what was going on. 

            He had fallen asleep at work.

            The knowledge, when it came, wasn't surprising. 

            He peeled the piece of paper he'd previously been reading off his cheek and rubbed his gritty eyes. His computer told him that it was almost two A.M.  That was annoying. Just over an hour of sleep to make up for that last few days left him feeling a bit cheated. He had hoped that if he fell asleep at his desk to not wake up until after sunrise. He guessed that that was the unfortunate thing about literally going to sleep at your desk. The mere discomfort of the position made your body rebel and wake up before it could cramp up. 

            Absently he picked up his coffee mug and took a swallow before promptly spitting it back out. It had gone cold quite some time ago. Getting up from his desk, Reeve stretched and snatched up his coffee mug intending to go and fill it up from the coffee machine down the hall. Unfortunately, the machine had been turned off. 

            Great.

            Stifling a yawn he turned around and started back toward the elevators. He could always go down to the cafeteria and get something there. 

            Reaching the elevator, he reached out and stabbed the call button. Just as he straightened up, the lights on the entire floor went out.

            Reeve was left standing in the pitch-black corridor, mug in hand gazing up at the ceiling with a worried frown. Odd wasn't the word for it.

            He didn't want to deal with this. He was overtired, still half asleep because of his little nap, annoyed and severely caffeine deprived. 

            And then there came a scraping noise from the direction of the elevator. 

            Reeve took a step back as his brain kicked back into gear.

            His first thought was that this was another terrorist invasion. There really were no other alternatives. If there had been a problem with one of the reactors he would have heard about it by now. No. The power to the building had probably been cut and the tower was being invaded. And if that was the case, he didn't like the thought of what the scraping sound might be. It was definitely coming from the other side of the elevator doors.

            He realized he was standing in from of those doors with nothing but a half working brain and an empty coffee mug. He may need to defend himself. In the state he was in, it almost made him laugh. Him, an executive, trying to fight a band of terrorists. But he couldn't just stand there either. Running wasn't a great option with the power down either. He ran as great a risk to his safety by running around the building in the dark as staying and facing whomever it was on the other side of the door. And he had to admit; that small part of him that wasn't scared to death was actually pretty relaxed by the thought of physical harm. That part of him, the depressed and angry part, was itching for a fight.

            Remembering a small table in the corridor piled with magazines, Reeve took a few uncertain steps sideways and felt something hard and wooden hit the side of his leg. Bending down and groping blindly in the dark, he managed to upend the table and break off one of the wooden legs to use as a club. That done, he felt his way back over to the wall by the elevator to wait.

            He didn't have to wait long. A last scrape came and then the reluctant slide of the doors being forced open from the other side. A rush of air and then a metal clank. Reeve tensed and waited. The elevator must've stopped just passed this floor making whoever it was inside have to jump down to the safety of the floor. It was the sound Reeve was waiting for. The light sound of shoes hitting the floor in front of the elevator. Reeve let out a quiet breath to calm himself before stepping out and swinging his makeshift weapon at his perceived enemy with all his strength toward where he hoped the terrorist's head might be.

            Just as he swung, the emergency lights flashed on, dimly illuminating the corridor and giving Reeve a superb view of his victim catching the club just before it hit his nose.

            Reeve's mouth dropped open in astonishment.

            Tseng looked pretty surprised himself. He looked at the club in his hand before very slowly letting his eyes follow the length of the club before finally resting on his would be attacker. He raised a single eyebrow at the executive.

            "I'm hurt, Reeve."

            Reeve's mouth worked silently for a while before he could manage to answer. "I...I didn't know it was you, Tseng."

            "One of your colleagues steal your paperclips perhaps?"

            Reeve was starting to feel a little stupid by this point. "I didn't intend to hit anyone I knew."

            "Who else did you think might be in the Shinra Tower express elevator apart from a Shinra Tower worker?"

            "The lights went out." Reeve explained dumbly. "I thought," Reeve could feel his ears going red, "I thought you were a terrorist."

            "Lucky for me that I was not." Tseng said releasing his grip on the club. "I could almost feel sorry for your terrorist knowing what I know now. Also lucky for me that I heard you before you swung. You would have done more than just knock me out."

            "Sorry." Reeve mumbled dropping his arm to his side. He was embarrassed to note that he was still holding his empty coffee cup in his other hand.

            Tseng saw it too and a corner of his mouth tipped up. "Terrorists might not seem to eager to blow us up if they knew they might have to face the wrath of our savage executives you know."

            "Are you finished? The building's power was cut, what was I supposed to think?"

            Tseng let his gazed wander over the corridor for a while, his expression slowly dissolving into his usual serious mask. "Indeed. Reactor problems?"

            "I doubt it."

            Tseng hadn't looked like he'd thought it was likely either. "I was on my way up to see Rufus. We will collect him on the way to the President's office. I've alerted Rude, he will meet us on the roof with the chopper.

            "Should I still be worried about terrorists?"

            Tseng gave this some serious thought before replying in a way that Reeve had never heard before from the Turk Leader. "I don't know. It is possible. Perhaps I'd better take a detour through security and see if our guests are still in their cells. But first I'd like to make a sweep of some of these lower floors. If the threat is from terrorists I'll assume that the top floors are safe. Do you mind going up alone for the moment and finding Rufus?"

            Reeve nodded a little anxiously and peered down the corridor toward the door to the internal staircase. 

            Tseng broke off his study of the corridor to watch him for a moment. "Don't worry before we have cause to, Mr. Evans. It will probably turn out to be nothing."

            "What are the odds." Reeve muttered. "Especially after a week like this."

            Tseng watched the other man in thoughtful silence for a while before quite suddenly backhanding the other man across the face. It wasn't meant to hurt him, just shock him, but Reeve looked hurt enough. Wide-eyed Reeve took a quick step back away from Tseng. Tseng stopped any further movement with a look.

            "Don't be so defeatist. Nasty things have happened, but you must stop taking it so personally. If you thought about it logically, even for a moment, you might find that it all has little to nothing to do with you. Unless you were singularly involved, I suggest you stop feeling sorry for yourself. It is these little things we do personally that make us who we are. Not the things those around us do."

            "You hit me." Reeve said unbelievingly. 

            "Yes. And I will do it again if you continue acting the way you are. Remember what I said? I am a Turk after all."

            "Yeah, they tend to have a fixation with hitting me."

            "You're doing it again." Tseng warned half-heartedly. "Now will you go and find Rufus?"

            Reeve nodded again, but he was still watching Tseng guardedly. Before he turned to head down towards the stairs, Tseng grabbed his arm. Tseng half expected Reeve to flinch, but was pleased to see that he didn't.

            "Also remember, I am your friend Reeve."

            "I know." Reeve admitted. "I understand."

            "Good. Now go, I will meet you in the President's office as planned."

*

            Thanks to his past and never wanting it to ever happen again, Reeve was in fit enough shape. Having a company gym a couple of floors below his office didn't hurt either. Still, even with his twice to three times a week trips to the gym, he found it a little tough going. Though that might have had more to do with what was happening rather than what he was doing. 

            Upon first entering the stairwell, Reeve was surprised to see all of the doors to the various floors standing wide open. Of course, when he thought about it, it made perfect sense. In an emergency power black out, the stairs were the only way to get through the building and nobody would be able to just swipe their cards through the electronic door releases either so it would make sense for the doors to open automatically in such a situation. It was just a pity that Reeve was still imagining terrorists and their newfound ability to enter any floor they wanted to now. 

            Not a happy thought. 

            His breath would catch in his throat every time he passed the doorway to a new floor. To his relief, nothing jumped out of the doorways as he passed, and he could hear nothing happening beyond the threshold either. Still, when he got up to the 67th floor, he paused by the doorway to listen to the sounds of the floor beyond. It was unlikely that there were any people left in any of the offices at this time of night, but he couldn't be certain either. He would feel terrible if he passed the floor without checking it out properly. Most of the other floors he had already passed were usually locked up for the night, but not the executive floor. 

            He crept out onto the floor. Then he began to feel ridiculous. 

            _You'd think there were a whole band of terrorists hunting me through the building by the way that I'm acting. C'mon Reeve, pull it together, it's just a little blackout, you've been through worse._

But he couldn't help the nagging feeling that while he'd been through worse, this wasn't much better.

            Resolutely, he made himself step back into the stairwell and turn his back on the door. He was acting plainly stupid and he knew it. Any executive on this floor wouldn't have hung around any longer than he had and that was even if any of them were still in the building to begin with. Surely Tseng would check who was still here while he was in security, it was his job after all. It was not Reeve's. 

            With that in mind he continued up the stairs, past the security level and up towards the lab.

*

            Tseng had only made a very quick check of the lower floors. He didn't really think they were under the threat of yet another terrorist invasion. Well, at least not a different one. He was far more eager to check on those terrorists he'd already caught that were being kept up in the cellblock on level 68.  He knew they shouldn't have been able to escape, not on their own. But Tseng had never been called naive before in his life and he wasn't about to start thinking that Shinra's security force were steadfastly loyal to the point of turning their nose up at a bribe or good enough to not let themselves be tricked some other way into letting the prisoners escape. 

            He had practically taken the steps four at a time to reach the 68th floor as quickly as he did. He hadn't seen nor heard Reeve on the stairwell either and so assumed that the man had taken his advice and gone straight up to the 70th floor without any dawdling. He stepped out on to the 68th floor and heard nothing. That made him hesitate and pull out his gun. Under no circumstances was this floor ever silent. This floor was active 24hrs a day. Even on the most quiet of nights there was at least two guards on duty. But tonight, the floor was so silent Tseng could hear his own footfalls as though he were a drunk giant in iron boots. 

            Finally he made it to the security room, where a single guard could monitor the whole building, the door stood open. No one was in evidence.  

            Tseng could have growled. No wonder the power hadn't been restored yet, the controls for that were here in this room and the guards seemed to have fled their posts. Brilliant.

            There was a twitch in the silence. More a feeling than a real sound.

            Without looking around, Tseng drove his elbow up into the space directly behind his head where it met the expected force of someone's head.  Grabbing the man's collar he hauled him around and slammed him up against the monitors.

            "Are you blind, or merely stupid?" Tseng asked mildly.

            The guard was looking up at Tseng in wide-eyed terror. "S-Sir! I didn't know it was you, the lights-!"

            "Yeah, I've been getting a lot of that lately. Who did you think I might be?"

            "That phantom Sir! The man in black."

            Of all of the answers the guard could have given him, that one was not something Tseng had expected. Now that he looked closer at the guard he could see that the man was truly scared and not just because he had almost attacked the Leader of the Turks. In the dim light, Tseng could also recognize him.

            "Charlie right?"

            Charlie looked a little unnerved that Tseng recognized him. "Yes, Sir."

            "Are the prisoners still in their cells?"

            "Yes, Sir. I checked."

            "So this man in black is…?"

            "A ghost, Sir! He killed the others!"

            Tseng's brow furrowed. "Let me recap. All of the prisoners are accounted for but there is a ghost wandering around the building killing people. A ghost dressed in black."

            "Yes, Sir." But now even Charlie was beginning to look as though he were rethinking his story. Even though it might be true, telling something like this to someone like Tseng always made people rethink the validity of their own stories. "And he had a big sword."

            "You didn't notice anything else about this Phantom killer?"

            "No, Sir. He was wearing a black cloak with a hood."

            "And where were you while this was happening?"

            Charlie didn't immediately answer and began looking embarrassed and scared at the same time. "I hid, Sir. I-I heard them screaming, but I couldn't move. There was nothing I could've done, he, it would've killed me too, I know it! It wasn't human Sir!"

            Tseng rolled his eyes. "This non-human thing that was wielding a sword and wearing a black cloak. I wouldn't have thought a ghost would need such...human things."

            "With respect, Sir, you didn't see it. You didn't hear them screaming."

            Tseng spent the next few moments thinking things through. If the cameras were down, there was no way to prove Charlie's claim about this man in black. There was no proof of anything.

Anything at all.

"Are you the only left on this floor?"

"As far as I know. I haven't checked storage though, but nobody should be over there anyway. I just came back from checking the cells."

"Okay. Show me the cells."

Charlie nodded and began to precede Tseng toward the cellblock. Before he got to the door however, Tseng had snatched the knife from the guard's belt put his arm around the man's head, pulled it back and drew the knife across Charlie's throat. Tseng spun the body back around and threw it over the guard's workstation quickly. Not quickly enough, he still managed to get some blood on his shirtsleeve. 

"Damn."

He dropped the knife next to the body not bothering to wipe it off and left the room. He meant to check on those cellblocks himself. 

There was a dead guard at the end of the corridor. Quick inspection in bad light wasn't able to tell Tseng much but it did look as tough Charlie might have been telling the truth about the mystery swordsman phantom or no.

Tseng left the guard behind and walked down the corridor in between the cells. All the doors still seemed to be locked and he could hear faint snoring coming from the rear most cell. With the key he had taken from the guard he inserted it into the middle cell and unlocked the door. He turned and started back. At the first cell he stopped and stared at the silver metal before putting a hand to it.

"You should know I couldn't leave you alone."

On his way out he dropped the keys back onto the body of the guard and headed back toward the security control room. 

*

Reeve stopped for a few moments to catch his breath in the stairwell. He leant back against the big black numbers stating that he was now on floor 69 and took in a few deep breath. Immediately he wished he hadn't. The air smelt funny. Tinny somehow.

Absently he reached up to wipe a bit of sweat off his nose and noticed for the first time that his hand had something on it. Tacky and dark was all he could make out of the substance. He smelt the same tinny smell as before when he sniffed at it.

It was at that unfortunate time that Tseng had chosen to switch the power back on in the building. The stairway was now fully illuminated and the smear on his palm that he had been staring at took on color.

Red. 

It was blood. He'd put his hand in some gripping the edge of the railing on the stairs. He looked around himself with wide eyes and somehow he still couldn't take in what he saw. There wasn't just a little blood on the stairwell. Not like someone had cut himself or herself accidentally. It was more like somebody had dragged a heavily bleeding body through the door leading onto the floor and up the stairwell toward the floor above. Not only that but there was blood splattered here and there across the walls, even a little on the roof. 

Reeve couldn't catch his breath. The hand he was still holding up began to shake.

It was now officially worse.

*

Tseng stood in front of the holding tank, gun arm hanging limply by his side. 

Jenova was free. 

The mangled body of the lab assistant in front of the tank was testimony to that. Not to mention the pulverized holding tank door. 

Leading away from the tank was a bloody trail. Not boot prints as Tseng might have hoped. He had hoped that the specimen might have been stolen from storage if it went missing at all. But no. The twisted metal of the door was pushed outwards, not forced in. 

And the trail led toward the lab.

*

He was aware that he should move. But he needed a moment. More than a moment really. This was just insane.

He'd seen some truly messed up stuff working for Shinra, but he'd never come into work one day to find a bloody trail leading up to his bosses office before. It wasn't something you were meant to find around the office. 

Reeve wasn't a hero. A fact he was well aware of. He wasn't even a true villain come to think of it. Either one would not be reduced to this. Standing slumped against a wall watching the floor covered in blood as though it might bite them. 

He wasn't even pissed off enough anymore to not care. It was one thing to not have much respect for your own life anymore, a completely different matter to want to throw yourself in front of whatever was capable of making a blood smear that large across the floor. He wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea of becoming one of those smears.

_Rufus is up there…_

Reeve hadn't thought about that. Sure he wasn't hero material, but he didn't especially consider himself asshole material either. He couldn't leave his friend up there alone.

Reeve straightened up and took another deep breath. He was still shaking a little, but he managed to climb the stairs regardless. At first slowly, then with a little more vigor. 

He didn't know who it might be he was about to face, but at least he wouldn't be making Rufus face it alone.

*

By this point, Tseng was running.

Jenova was loose. There were at least three executives left in the building not including the President and Rufus. And all of them were up on the higher levels somewhere. Apparently both Scarlet and Palmer had been on the executive levels when the power out had occurred, but who knew where they were now? They'd probably gone upstairs as per usual safety regs and that was not a safe place to be right now. He'd even sent Reeve up there himself before fully assessing the situation.

He hadn't stopped for long in the lab, he'd seen the bodies and the blood and really had all the information he needed. Now what he needed to do was to catch up to Reeve and find the others before something happened to them as well. 

What he wouldn't give for Reno to be healthy and able at this point. With Rude in the chopper he was essentially on his own.

He needed some heavy duty backup.  Luckily he just so happened to be in a perfect place to find such a thing.

*

            Reeve jogged into Rufus' office and pulled up short. No one was here. But neither was any blood so he took that as a good sign. 

            "Reeve, thank the gods!"

            Startled, Reeve spun around to see a ruffled looking Scarlet in the doorway, hand to her chest.

            "Scarlet! Are you okay?"

            "As can be expected. What the fuck is happening?"

            "I don't know. Tseng sent me up here to find Rufus and then get up to the helipad. Have you seen him?"

            Scarlet shook her head a little worry creeping into her features. "I only just came up here when the elevators started running again."

            Reeve thought the situation out a moment. "He's probably upstairs. C'mon we've got to head up there anyway."

            Reeve stepped passed Scarlet out into the hall and started toward the reception area. Scarlet caught up to him hurriedly and put a hand on his arm. He felt nails dig into his arm quite painfully as they trooped on, but he soon saw why.  Three bodies littered the floor. One of those further up one of the double stairwells that lead up to the Presidential office. The blood trail continued further through the floor and up the left hand stairwell. The body was on the opposite stairwell.

            "I've never seen anything like this," Scarlet whispered. "And we're just supposed to follow it up there?"

            Reeve didn't answer, he'd spotted a body lying not too far from the reception desk, on her stomach, brown hair obscuring their identity. But Reeve had a bad feeling about this. He shook off Scarlet and went to kneel by the body. He sat there for a few moments, irresolute. By this time he'd recognized his co-worker, but a part of him wanted to make sure. Gently, he smoothed the woman's hair away from the side of her face so he could see. His fingers immediately became bloodied but he didn't notice.

            "Kat."

            Scarlet had come over to peer at the body.  "Look, Reeve, I don't mean to be crass, but can we please get out of here before the bloody mutilated look becomes a trend?"

            Reeve nodded and got to his feet. "Let's go."

***

            Whatever happened next wasn't clear to anyone's mind…

            Least of all to one of the only people to see it with their own eyes.

            Rufus hadn't been in the office when the figure had entered. He'd been out on the balcony having a cigarette after getting chewed out by his father. He'd been the dutiful worker and come to the President's call. He'd given his report.

His father hadn't been impressed.

"We're not rebuilding! I had this same discussion in the meeting with Reeve. And now you've told them we're going to rebuild! Honestly, Rufus, think for once in your life would you!"

            "I'd be able to think clearer if I knew what was going on you dense fat fuck." Rufus told the night in general taking another drag.

            It was Rufus who'd stormed out first. No surprise there. The old man was constantly driving at him to do better within the company and Rufus really was doing better. These days he was more knowledgeable of the various departments under him than his father even had been. And he was managing them all well. It was just a pity that his father only ever chose to see what Rufus did wrong rather than the many things he did right. And it was beyond irritating for a man so used to being able to say what he felt, to have to stand there and take it without a word of complaint. He'd stood there and taken the verbal abuse quietly and calmly. Then he'd stood up and marched off for the door.

            "And where do you think you're going?"

            "For a smoke."

            The meeting was now in intermission.

            He flicked the remainder of the cigarette over the side of the balcony and turned to face the next half of his chewing out. The sight that greeted him on the other side of the clear window stopped him in his tracks. His father hadn't moved from his large chair behind his expansive desk, but he looked like he wanted to. A figure dressed all in black stood behind him, sword raised.

            Rufus knew what was going to happen, he could see the scene as though it had already unfolded before his eyes, but he still didn't move. A small guilty part of him realized that he should be running in there to save his father. 

            But it was a very small part.

            Instead he stood transfixed as the sword came down straight into his father's back. He heard the scream, he saw the blood, and he even noticed how the polished blade practically shone under the harsh glare of the fluorescents. And then his eyes took in the swordsman. The hood of his black cloak had fallen back, silver hair, shaken loose fell down his back in waves. And those brilliant green mako eyes, watching him.

            Sephiroth saw Rufus' expression, smiled, winked, and then, disappeared.

            Rufus finally allowed himself to breathe. Slowly, numbly, he walked around the building and back into the office. He stood in front of his father's desk, staring at the dead man slumped over the papers in front of him with a kind of detachment he hadn't felt before. And he kept standing there. He distantly heard his name being called, but he didn't really take notice of it until someone grabbed his arm and made him look at them.

            Brown eyes. They were familiar.

            "What?"

            "Rufus! Are you alright?"

            Reeve's concern washed into him…and straight out the other side. 

            "Better than some."

            "There you all are." Tseng was striding toward them a black dog on his heels. "We should-"

            And then he saw the body.

            "Yes, he's dead." Rufus informed him.

            "Are you hurt? Where were you?"

            "On the balcony. I'm okay."

            "Did you see who it was?"

            "I don't know what I saw." Rufus answered eventually. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

            "Yes, of course, Mr. President."

            Rufus didn't know how to react to the title. So he smiled instead. It wasn't a very joyous smile, but it was hardly sad either.

            Reeve and Scarlet were eyeing the dog Tseng had bought with him. 

            "Extra precaution. This is one of the security dogs. Especially bred. And now, everyone, I suggest we have ourselves rescued."

            "Ah, finally something I agree with!" Scarlet replied happily. "Shall we?"

            Reeve watched Scarlet follow Tseng out onto the roof. The dog stayed behind near Rufus, nuzzling his new master's hand as Rufus gazed absently at his father's body.

            "Rufus-"

            "Where's Palmer?"

            "Huh?"

            Rufus turned to Reeve and gave the man a questioning look. "Palmer. He was in here for the first half of the meeting. Where did he go?"

            "I don't know, I didn't see him." Reeve watched Rufus for a few moments. As far as he could tell, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the new President of Shinra Inc. Slightly distracted but that was all. "I heard a few things though. I was coming up from reception when I heard it."

            "What did you hear?"

            "Whoever killed your father, he's looking for the Promised Land isn't he?"

            Rufus thought that over for a while. "Well, that'll make things a little more interesting wont it?"

            They heard a muffled cough from the door and turned to see Tseng standing there waiting. "If you're ready gentlemen? I have reason to believe the terrorists have escaped from their cells in the confusion. I'd rather not dawdle."

            Rufus smiled vacantly and reached down to pat the dog beside him. "Oh, I don't know. I'd rather like to meet them."

*****************

            _Notes by Ace: _

_Okay, so you know what happens next, it doesn't need to be gone over and I'm told to keep away from that stuff as much as possible. I just put in what I've been told to after all. Which is kind of a pity 'cause this chapter should have turned out a lot scarier than it did, but I was rushing through it as it was. Sorry. I'm out of practise. Now for the message a few of you may not have got before…_

_Sorry about this but you'll have to deal with me for the time being. For those of you who don't know, AF's computer is dead so I'm helping her out with a few of her fics till she can get back to posting. For more info you're better off checking out the Neo Midgar News mailing list that can be accessed on her site cause I'm not going through it all now. We'll try to get chapters out often, but be prepared for setbacks because relying on me to post isn't exactly the best idea sometimes. _

_Okay, so, we're getting to the point in the story where it may get a little disjointed in parts. Not quite the next chapter but definitely the one after that. There is still a lot of the game story to cover so it may skip ahead in some parts but hopefully it wont get too confusing. Well, I hope. I have more notes on the next one and have prepared work from AF to add and much more time to do it in so it'll be better, I promise. This chapter just didn't want to fit together at all._

_Thanks_

_Ace_

_acelynd@excite.com_

_You can find the mailing list at _

__

_and stuff…_


	19. The New Age

What You Do To Me.  
  
By AF  
  
Chapter 19  
  
By AF & Ace  
  
The New Age.  
  
The nurse bought the wheelchair to a stop just outside of the entryway to the hospital.  
"Did you want me to call a cab?" The nurse asked. "I thought you said one of your friends was coming to pick you up."  
Reno could see the bare roadway in front of the hospital as well as the nurse could.  
"They are. They're late s'all."  
Reno and the nurse stayed by the entryway for a little while longer before the nurse sighed and said, "I really don't want to leave you out here by yourself Mr. Anderson, but we're really busy and I-"  
"No bother," Reno told her. "I'm sure one of them will be here soon. I'm a big boy."  
The nurse smiled at him, turned and left him by himself, waiting.  
Eventually Reno dug out a cigarette and lit up while he waited. No doubt everyone was a little busy at the moment. Rude, Tseng, whoever had probably just been held up.  
In fact, Reno was so sure of that fact that he sat there for a further forty minutes before his brain would finally take in the fact that they had forgotten about him.  
"Fucking pricks."  
His PHS was in his pack that was hanging off one of the handgrips on his wheelchair. In the state he was in he figured he'd be lucky to be able to scratch his nose without tearing himself open again. But he managed it after about twenty more minutes and quite a lot of swearing. Eventually he sat panting in his chair, sweat pouring off his brow but triumphantly holding his PHS.  
He tried Rude first. Then Tseng. Both times he got a message saying that both people were out of range. Rufus' PHS managed to capture a signal, but Reno only got his message bank.  
"Hey Rufus, it's Reno. Just leaving you a message to tell you that the next time I see you I'm going to staple both your ears to the wall in your office."  
He even tried Cassian. The Soldier didn't have a PHS and his phone at home rang out before Reno got an answer.  
Eventually, reluctantly, he dialed Reeve. He got the man's answering machine.  
"Oh, hi Reeve, it's Reno. I um...oh never mind."  
Reno hung up and then dialed for a cab.  
  
Luckily, he didn't have a long wait for the cab to come pick him up. The cabbie even helped him with his wheelchair apparently taking pity on the injured man that served to make Reno even more irritated.  
His apartment though was another story entirely.  
Contrary to the popular believe of his friends and even most of the other tenants living in the building, Reno did have access to a lift. The reason most people ceased to think the building had one was because it never seemed to work. It probably worked only two months out of every year and even then only the very brave or very stupid would chance to use it. Reno was one of these people. Twice it had crapped out while he was actually in it. Once it had just stopped working. The other it had come close to snapping free of the elevator cable above the cab. If Reno hadn't been a Turk he figured the elevator would have killed him a long time ago.  
It wasn't as if the building was a slum, rat infested hole either, it just wasn't one of the nicer ones the topside of Midgar had to offer. The landlord was cheap and lazy and these days it was just less hassle for the tenants to fix things themselves rather than wait for Midgar to freeze over and their landlord to actually getting around to doing something for a change.  
Reno could afford to move out, he just didn't on principle. It was the closest thing to home he'd been able to find without actually living in a dumpster.  
Even in his present condition he might have risked the elevator, but this month was one of the usual months where the elevator sported its usual 'OUT OF SERVICE' signage. And it was probably the worst time Reno could think of to have it not working.  
He sat in the lobby and gazed up at the sign from his wheelchair.  
Then he looked at the alcove adjacent that lead toward the stairwell.  
Reno lived on the third floor.  
With a sigh of accepting this as just another shitty occurrence of the day, Reno braced himself and began to push himself up and out of his chair.  
  
He got as far as halfway up before his already unsteady legs decided that he wasn't going any farther. With his back to the wall he slid his body down and sat on the carpeted stair he had been standing on and forced his body to breathe again. It took considerable convincing.  
While he sat there red-faced, out of breath and in pain, he fumbled with his pack for the bottle of painkillers the doctor had given him just before he left. Hopefully they'd work enough to allow him to continue his journey without fainting like a little girl.  
He swallowed two without the aid of water then rested his head against the wall behind him while he waited for them to kick in.  
He then decided to take another three while he waited.  
He was waiting at least half an hour before a numb feeling began to work its way through his aching wounds. By then he was just simply too exhausted to move. And what made it worse was that he could hear someone ascending the stairwell. A neighbor most like. He smiled wondering how often one of his neighbors had found him on this very stairwell passed out drunk. He even laughed a little. The footsteps got closer.  
Reno's eyes were closed by the time the footsteps stopped a few steps below the one he was sitting on.  
The most weary voice he had ever heard that didn't belong to one of his bosses said, "Reno, I am /so/ sorry."  
Reno opened one of his eyes a crack. "Reeve?"  
Reeve crouched down on the next stair down and looked Reno over sadly. "Yeah. Tseng's out of town, Rude too. I meant to be there to pick you up, I just-"  
"S'alright." Reno actually smiled. "I'm quite comfortable actually." He paused. "I /am/ still on the stairwell right?"  
Reeve frowned at him, then at the bottle Reno was still clutching in his right hand. He plucked it out of Reno's unresisting fingers. "Pain- killers? How many did you take?"  
"Five or so. I think."  
"Reno, it says on the label to take no more than two every five hours. You've overdosed on very powerful drugs."  
"Take it easy, s'not like I swallowed the whole bottle. Not even close."  
"How do you feel?"  
Reno thought this over for a moment. "I can't feel my legs," he admitted.  
Reeve seemed about to laugh but the urge to disappeared quickly. "C'mon, lets get you upstairs huh."  
Leaning mostly on Reeve, Reno finally managed to get the rest of the way upstairs and down the hall to his apartment. Once inside Reno had started off toward the couch, but Reeve manhandled him off in the other direction toward his bedroom. Reeve gently eased him down onto his bed and deposited Reno's pack onto the floor by the door. He looked down at the younger man sprawled over the bed in front of him and shook his head.  
"You're trashed."  
Reno lifted his head to give a witty reply before his eyes focused properly for the first time and he actually took in the sight of his friend.  
"What happened?" he asked quietly.  
Reeve should've been prepared for this, he fully realized what he must look like but he'd just figured Reno's doped up brain wouldn't see it all. He hadn't shaved or eaten for the last couple of days and he probably smelled worse than Reno's fridge by now.  
"It's a long story. Maybe when you've straightened up a bit. Right now you need sleep." Reeve replied bending down to unlace Reno's shoes.  
"Reeve, seriously, you look..." Reno frowned. "I'll kill Tseng."  
Reeve dropped one of Reno's boots to the floor before starting on the other one. "Uh..."  
"Something really bad has happened hasn't it? And he hasn't told me about it."  
Reeve pulled off the second boot and straightened up. "He probably didn't want you to worry. I'm surprised you haven't heard anything about it though. Haven't you been watching the news, talking to /anyone/?"  
"I've had a morphine drip stuck into my arm since I last saw any of you. I doubt I was the best conversationalist in the ward."  
Compared to a few minutes ago, Reno sounded a lot more lucid. It shouldn't surprise him, Reeve supposed, it took a lot for anything to really affect Reno's usual alertness. Training, mako all of it, he would've probably had to take twice the amount he did for it to really knock him around for too long.  
Reno probably wouldn't rest until he knew the full story and he really did need to know.  
With a nod, Reeve sat down on the foot of the bed and gave Reno the full story about what had happened in the Shinra Building since he'd been away. He tried not to leave out any detail and kept very little to himself figuring that Reno didn't need to be shielded from anything.  
Reno listened to it all with a dazed expression through most of it. He asked a few questions to begin with about Avalanche and their capture but he soon grew very quiet. By the time Reeve got up to the death of President Shinra Reno just looked frankly shocked.  
"...Avalanche showed up just before we were about to take off. Everyone was in the chopper but Rufus." Reeve paused and licked dry lips. "He faced one of them down while the others escaped. Eventually Rufus broke off from the fight after the guard dog died and we were able to take off. With his father gone Rufus stood to inherit. That's where they've all gone. Off to Junon for the reception. The Turks are supposed to meet up with them there but I think Tseng wanted to follow after Sephiroth. Elena's been made a full Turk by the way. I think Tseng thought three was a stronger number than two and you had been badly injured."  
Reno seemed to need to digest this for a few minutes. He laid his head back and stared at the ceiling in silence while Reeve watched him.  
"Maggie always used to say that it wouldn't last. That it was amazing it already had for so long. Precognition or what?"  
Reeve looked confused. "What?"  
Reno shook his head. "Nothing, overreaction. For what it's worth, I'm sorry about the people you lost."  
An image of Kattie's body flashed briefly through Reeve's mind at the reminder. "Thanks."  
Reno watched the ceiling in silence for a while longer while Reeve let his mind dwell over what he'd just told Reno. Eventually though he felt the need to speak.  
"I guess I really am the one that should have briefed you anyway. Rufus and the Turks barely stayed in Midgar for more than a two days before they left. Rufus should be getting to Junon soon. I'm really the only executive left here."  
This news made Reno pay attention. "What? You're in charge?"  
"So it would seem. Heidigar left with Rufus. Apparently Scarlet and Palmer were sent off to missions of their own. Oh and Hojo's missing. Rufus found a letter of resignation on his desk the morning after it all happened. Rufus left me in charge till his return or the circumstances change."  
"Vice-President Evans huh?"  
"Gods, I hope not. I think Heidigar's next in line for that sort of thing, but Rufus needed him to chase down Sephiroth apparently."  
Reno frowned. "You don't really believe that do you? I've heard all about that story and I'm guessing that you have by now as well. The guy's dead. You don't come back from stuff like that."  
"It's what Rufus says he saw. Tseng agreed that the type of sword used was the same used by Sephiroth. It might be possible that he never did die. Whose word have we got to back that claim anyway? Hojo's? As soon as this all happened he disappeared which suggests that he knows more than he ever let on about Nibleheim."  
"Now you sound like Tseng."  
"C'mon, you've been with the company longer than I have, what really happened at Nibleheim?"  
"Yeah, I've been here longer by about a year or two Reeve. It was all still before my time. When Sephiroth took a nosedive into that reactor I was eighteen and running messages for a Rebel Leader in the Slums. Of the two Turks sent to investigate only one is still alive and if you can get him to talk about it you could start applying for Sainthood lemme tell you. That whole Nibleheim thing is Shinra's best-kept secret. It's such a well kept secret that if Heidigar even knew we were talking about outside the 70th Floor he'd kick both out asses so hard we'd taste shoe leather."  
"Fine, point taken. But see if I care."  
With much effort, Reno sat up and gave Reeve a severe look. "Don't even give up now. You stayed when you could have left and now you've lost that luxury. And why leave? You're finally in a position to make a difference, do you understand? With Rufus gone, there's no one to run the city but you. I don't think you've quite realized just how much power that gives you in this city."  
"Unless it gives me the power to take back everything that's happened, I'm not interested."  
Reno let himself fall back. "Oh, fuck me, you're hard to please sometimes." Reno regretted it as soon as he'd said it.  
"Kat's dead. An entire sector of people are gone. And you think I'd be happy just because I get to play king for a couple of weeks?"  
"I'm not suggesting that you do a happy little dance out in the streets Reeve, just to try and make the best out of the situation is all. Rufus has shown you a lot of trust by leaving you here by yourself you know. After all you could overthrow him with the power of this city behind you."  
"I never would. And besides, he's hardly left me alone has he? After all he still has you here." Reeve said carefully.  
"Yeah sure. An injured Turk whose loyalty he knows he couldn't count on if you decided to really play tyrant. I think you underestimate his trust in you."  
Reeve was silent for a few moments. "Are you trying to incite a riot here?"  
"Hardly. I was just making a point." Reeve was giving him a funny look. "Oh please, you know full well that I'd follow you over him. I was just saying that he probably knows it too is all."  
"My own personal Turk. Why don't I feel touched?"  
"I'll touch you anywhere you want, but you are technically my superior. Look, seriously, without Rufus or Heidigar here I really have no other superiors. Do you get what I'm telling you? And unless Tseng calls for me sometime soon, I'll be obliged to stay in Midgar."  
"So what? I give you an order, any order and you'll follow it?"  
"Well after you give me a couple more days to heal, yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying."  
Reeve thought this over for a moment. "I see. And if I order you to root through Shinra's history..."  
"Your direct order will be obeyed with no comment and much discretion." Reno grinned. "Sir."  
Reeve nodded thoughtfully. "I'll keep that in mind. By the way, I've told the office that I'll be working form home for the most part for the next week or so. That means your home of course. At least until you recover a little more."  
Reno blinked at Reeve in shock. "Huh? You're gonna stay here with me for the next week."  
"Is that a problem?"  
"No!" Reno blurted. "Of course not! Just surprised. I didn't think I was your favorite person at the moment that's all. And here you're going to be nursing me back to health."  
"I owe you that I think." Reeve looked around himself for a moment. "And besides, I think this is actually the first time I've been inside your apartment."  
"That's no accident, trust me. Uh, and I only have one bed."  
"And a very comfortable looking couch." Reeve followed up succinctly. "I'll be fine." Reeve frowned for a moment. "I'm not sure I want to be entirely alone at the moment anyway. A roommate would be welcome."  
"No argument here."

  
  
"You look nice. Hot date?"  
Reeve stopped at the voice and turned to look at Reno who was currently sprawled across the couch eating dry cereal out of the box and watching television.  
"Hardly. The memorial service is today, remember. I still can't believe Rufus didn't wait around for it. Would three days more have killed him?"  
"And pass up the opportunity of a tour of Junon as President Shinra? It probably would have. I guess that explains why your running around the apartment like a newly headless chicken. Lost something?"  
Reeve frowned in the middle of doing up his tie. "Do you realize you have no mirrors here? None at all!"  
Reno resumed watching the TV. "I don't need mirrors to know I look hot."  
"How the hell do you shave?"  
"Very carefully."  
"I'm supposed to be the top Shinra representative today and I can't even check to see if my tie's crooked. And I left my best suit jacket back at my apartment."  
Reno rolled his eyes and looked back at Reeve. "You look perfectly respectable as always and you're wearing navy blue. Go find one of my jackets in my closet."  
"It won't fit."  
Reno shrugged and turned back. "Better than nothing."  
Reeve sighed and trudged off to Reno's room. Inside his wardrobe Reno had three navy jackets in varying degrees of untidiness. Reeve selected the best of the three and reached in to tug it off its hanger. In his haste he lost his grip and the jacket fell off its hangers and onto the floor of the wardrobe. Reeve bent down and reached in to retrieve it. As he pulled it out a shoebox came with it spilling out of the wardrobe and onto the carpet by Reeve's feet.  
"Shit."  
Righting the box, he started hastily grabbing up the contents of the box and stuffing it back it. One of the last things he picked up was a Polaroid that he couldn't help glancing at as he went to put it back into the box too. The photo caught his eye stopping him from his work.  
A strange photo for Reno to have. It was of him and a small boy of about six or so. They posed in such a way that Reeve guessed that Reno was holding the camera at arm's length so that it only took their faces pressed up close together and smiling at the camera. The boy wore Reno's sunglasses, way too big for him, halfway down his nose showing a set of big blue eyes. The pair looked incredibly happy.  
Confused, Reeve turned the picture over trying to find some indication of who the boy might be. After all, Reno looked no younger really than when Reeve had first met him. There was only one word scribbled on the back and it simply said 'Dale'.  
Reeve was about to call out to Reno to ask about the picture before he realized that he was already late. Quickly he put the picture back in the box along with the last few items, one of which turned out the be an old dirty stuffed duck – yet another confusing and out of place item – then put the lid back on and slid it back into place inside the wardrobe.

  
  
"Mr. Evans, you're late."  
It was nothing Reeve didn't already know. But as highest-ranking official, the ceremony couldn't start until he arrived.  
Rufus' secretary was giving him her best scolding schoolmistress look. It was so effective that Reeve almost said; 'Sorry ma'am'. He collected himself in time though and tried to look calm about it all. He really didn't need the berating this early in the day; he had a hard enough job ahead of him as it was. This was essentially the funeral for everyone that had died on the night the President had been stabbed and he was the one who was meant to give the usual 'good of Shinra' speech. He felt ill but also angry.  
"I'm aware."  
Ruby pursed her lips and handed Reeve a sheet of paper from her folder.  
"What's this?"  
"Your speech," she answered matter-o-factly. "President Shinra mailed it to me this morning with the instructions that it be read aloud today by you. He said that today's speech must be made very carefully because it will be televised throughout Midgar in the hopes of making them compassionate toward the company at its loss."  
Reeve took the page and scanned it as he was ushered to his seat up the front of the expansive room near the podium. There weren't many seats for dignitaries and Reeve was one of two who would be talking. Luckily he was the second the speak so he had some time to go over Rufus's speech. It made him cringe to read.  
"'A new era for Shinra'?" Reeve read quietly to himself. He couldn't believe it. Rufus had made a memorial for the dead speech sound like a campaign poster.  
He was almost done reading when the speaker before him introduced him.  
Reeve had never liked public speaking. One thing he had really liked about his job was that he never had to give press releases or speak at ceremonies. The closest he came to any of that was showing proposals in staff meetings. The building the service was being held in was the relatively unused but still very impressive main function room in the city hall. The place was packed with chairs seating the Midgar elite as well as various reporters and television cameras ready to record everything for the rest of the Midgar populace not in attendance. But after reading Rufus' version of a memoir to the fallen, Reeve's sick, grieved and nervous feelings fled leaving him with little but bewilderment...and anger.  
He got up and walked slowly to the podium. The room was silent. He carefully placed the sheet of paper down on the podium in front of him and then promptly ignored it.  
"I think I'm supposed to talk about Shinra, its might and influence, not to mention about its great new ruler."  
The room was so still and silent it was a wonder you couldn't hear the assembled masses' every individual breath.  
"But that's not why we're here." He continued looking up with a steady eye at the people in the room. "We're here to remember those who lost their lives in because and in service to Shinra. And not just those recently gone, but also everyone we have lost recently that didn't get a memorial service to be remembered by.  
"Over the past few weeks, we have suffered considerable loss. The work crews and guards for the First and Fifth reactors as well as all of the poor souls from Sector Seven caught up in the destruction of the Plate. It hasn't been just Shinra who has suffered from this loss but all of Midgar. The people who have died were not just casualties in some war, but our neighbors and friends and they deserve to be remembered with out fondest thoughts and feelings. As well as our regret that they are no longer with us. All of Midgar must mourn together for the loss because it may be the only chance we have of making sure tragedy like this never happens again. Each one of the dead should be mourned as though we had lost that person nearest and dearest to us because out there somewhere there is another of our fellow townsmen who has genuinely suffered that loss firsthand.  
"I ask you to remember this day Midgar, because from now on we must strive to protect against causing our city to suffer as it has. And remember it also because the need for this day should, no, /will not/ arise again! Not if we hold on to our memories."  
After the silence during his speech, Reeve was still lost in his own words. It surprised him considerably to begin to hear applause. The enthusiastic applause was taken up by almost everyone in the room, the sheer noise after the silence hitting Reeve and washing over him, smothering his anger.  
He couldn't believe what he had just done. At least he had managed to stay clear of any personal recriminations against Shinra, but the damage had been done well enough because he hadn't told people that Shinra would take care of them, rather that they should take care of themselves. Most of the people in the room were Shinra. He was in deep shit, but at the same time he felt a kind of pride in the city that he hadn't felt in a very long time.  
The applause carried on, but he still couldn't bring himself to smile. He wasn't still angry, but annoyance was still there. Annoyance at the very same people cheering him on. They shouldn't need to be told any of what he'd just said, they should know. Just like he'd known. Everyone was still too willing to follow a leader whether it is he or Rufus. Still, he was proud that they seemed to agree with him so enthusiastically.  
He had just wished they realized this wasn't exactly a time for celebrations. Celebrations should have come if everyone had realized this all sooner instead of having let it happen first to teach them the error of their ways.  
He wasn't even quite sure the lesson was completely over yet.

  
  
Rufus watched the broadcast with narrowed eyes. He had no doubts that Reeve had got the speech he'd sent to Midgar for the occasion, and he also had no doubts that Reeve had read it then promptly ignored every word. That was a stupid thing to do.  
Now more than ever, the people of Midgar needed to be reassured that Shinra was there to protect them from things like this. They should have been reinforced of the might of Shinra and its ability to rise over such setbacks, but Reeve had hardly mentioned Shinra at all. In fact his speech would have been better if he had and not instead talked as though it were simply a part of the city and not the city itself. The people will think the terrorists had made them soft and afraid.  
With a snarl he picked up the remote and switched off the television. Looking out the window he saw the Junon landscape spread out below him. The view soothed his nerves. At least in this city he could be assured of his standing. Junon never suffered the problems that Midgar did and the people here seemed extremely happy of the change in President. 'New blood', the Shinra officials here had called it.  
Well, they didn't know the half of it.  
Checking his watch he saw he still had half an hour or so until the parade and his subsequent departure to Costa del Sol. Which was good, it gave him time to catch up on his reading.  
Since his position had been so suddenly elevated he'd realized that Shinra would no longer hold any secrets from him. He was the President and there was no longer any reason to root around in secured computer files or locked filing cabinets to sniff out what his father had been keeping from him. The company's secrets were now his secrets and they were all an open book to him now.  
The first thing he had requested files on was the Science Department. Shinra's best-kept secrets all seemed to track back there somehow and Rufus was eager to find out why. He had been reading them ever since he had left Midgar, and he had learnt a lot.  
In fact, thinking of Reeve, he pulled an old file out of the stack and opened it up to reread. The more he read, the more he smiled.  
The chase for Sephiroth was one thing, but having Avalanche on their tails was a nuisance without knowing exactly what they were up to. Or at least that is what Heidigar was insisting after Tseng had reported running into them in the Mithril mines south of Midgar.  
Perhaps he could kill two annoyances with one shot.  
Or was it three?

  
  
Notes by Ace:  
I can see why AF was having problems keeping to her chapter plan. You start writing one thing and end up with something you never even planned for. But as she wanted, the story is sticking mainly to the Shinra side of things. Everyone's played the game, no one needs to go over every piece of dialogue again, we all know what Avalanche are doing, but what is Shinra doing? That's the interesting part.  
Well, Reeve looks comfortable in his new role as Leader of Midgar and Rufus doesn't look too happy about it. I'm thinking he's starting to regret his decision to leave Reeve there all by his lonesome. Especially a pissed off and upset Reeve. Boy hasn't that guy gone through some character changes! Well, he's just the beginnings from what I've heard. Rufus has started on his slippery slope to bastardhood and personally I can't wait for it.  
This chapter might have been a bit boring since I wrote the bulk of it, but be rest assured almost all of the next chapter has been almost completed already by AF herself! You know what that means don't you?  
Can't you already smell the dark angst with a hint of sexual tension?  
Hehe  
Ace  
  
acelyndexcite.com  
AF's mails are currently being forwarded, eventually, to me anyway if you have any questions.  
http:www.geocities.com/animefearie/


	20. Reeve, The Spy

What You Do To Me

by AF

Chapter 20

by AF & Ace

**Reeve, the Spy.**

"There's going to be a parade and everything."

Funnily enough Reeve didn't look impressed. "A parade huh?"

Reno sighed, "I don't have to go."

"You do have to go."

"I do have to go," Reno echoed. "I had hoped to stay a bit longer. I didn't think Rufus would need me for a while but it looks like he needs me to play taxi."

"Really."

Reno looked at his friend's somber expression and shrugged. "Hey, it's not like it was _me _that pissed him off."

"If that's all it takes, I can't say I really care if I did piss Rufus off or not. He takes power off me by calling you away."

Reno snorted, "It's not like I'm Shinra's secret weapon or something. Whoopee, there's no Turks in Midgar," Reno said rather sarcastically, "he's just left you with half of solider and the bulk of his army. Yeah I'm gonna be a real loss of power next to that."

"I didn't mean it like that. I wont have any support here once you're gone."

"Ah. Well on the bright side, I won't be gone for long. We're not going with Rufus, I should be back here after I pick the others up from Junon. Well, hopefully."

"I don't understand why he needs you to go exactly, you aren't the world's best helicopter pilot."

"Sure I am, I only crashed that once and that was special circumstances. You're reading into this too much. Rufus isn't going to have you killed just for chucking his speech."

"Of course not, the last of his assassins has just been sent off to Junon remember?"

"Har har."

The breeze picked up on the roof of the Shinra Building tossing Reno's ponytail into his face.

Reeve didn't seem to be about to say anything else and was staring out over the roof in the direction of Sector Seven. Reno didn't want to rush the departure but it was well past time when he should have taken off.

"Well, do I get a kiss goodbye?" he prompted.

"No."

"How about a mildly affectionate fuck off then?"

Reeve sighed and tore his eyes away from the distant destruction. "Just be careful."

"If you insist."

Reeve stayed on the roof till the chopper lifted off before heading back inside. What Reno didn't understand was that Reeve felt very alone now in Midgar and he had very good reason to believe that Rufus had done this to him on purpose. All the Turks, all upper management were in Junon apart from him, most of his department were out on reactor reconstruction and even Cassian had taken out a group of Soldiers in the hunt for Sephiroth. Everyone that he had probably even had more than two conversations with were gone or dead and without moral support he imagined Rufus supposed he wouldn't be tempted to be the hero anymore and focus on what he was supposed to be doing rather than what he thought he needed to do.

And there was the matter of the special assignment Rufus had given him yesterday that he hadn't even mentioned to Reno. There were a couple of reasons. Firstly, it would worry the Turk. Secondly, it kept his mind off other things. And thirdly, it seemed like the most stupid idea in the history of Shinra.

Apparently Reeve was going to be a spy.

Reeve had found it the height of hilarity when Rufus had first told him about it. Reeve, a spy, he imagined it would be enough to make anyone laugh. Then Rufus had explained to him just how he would become a spy and then Reeve just thought Rufus was joking.

Reeve frowned at the vid link on his computer when it looked as though Rufus wouldn't be joining in with the laughter.

"You are kidding right?"

"Got something better to do?"

"About a thousand things actually. Piloting a robot on a spying mission to keep track of a bunch of terrorists wasn't even in the top ten of those things this morning."

Reeve watched the video of Rufus wave him off, "You've got the rest of the department to fix reactors, and you don't need to be with them on site. Just pretend for a moment I'm your boss and say something ass-kissy with a 'yes sir' on the end of it and we can forgo the argument."

Reeve bit back the next thing he was about to say and nodded instead. "These blue-prints you gave me aren't exactly clear on all the workings. But, and correct me if I'm wrong, this is a robot cat right?"

"Ingenious no?" Rufus smiled, "who would ever suspect you?"

"Point taken. But don't you have actual spies for this work?"

"I do, but none of them are engineers. This robot is perfect because it's so stupid. Any human that tried to nice up to the group totally out of the blue would be immediately circumspect right? I need an engineer to make this robot work and I need someone in the higher-ups with the clearance necessary to handle this kind of information. Besides I get the impression you have a little too much time on your hands these days."

Ah, so that was it. He was wondering how long it would take him to get in trouble for that little speech. He had been hoping Rufus wouldn't find out about that.

"Okay, I get the point. But there was something you forgot to send. I have the location of the robot, all the blue-prints except the ones for the remote pilot system."

"How astute. I didn't forget, I just didn't send them to you. Doctor Ishida got those mailed to him. I've already talked to him about the surgery. I would have preferred to have Hojo for this, but his resignation left us all hanging."

"You sent the plans to a doctor? Why?"

"This isn't like a remote control car Reeve you don't just nudge a joystick and make it walk. Total immersion, that's the ticket. That's the other reason these plans intrigued me so much. True the other doctor that initially built the thing never got as far as remote using, he had some interesting ideas about how to make it work."

"Surgery?" Reeve asked a little nervously.

"Quite intrusive the doctor tells me, but he's quite optimistic about the results," Rufus finished happily.

Reeve entered his office and looked over the chaos. There were bits of strewn robotics all over the place. Naturally the robot hadn't been working when he had first had the thing removed from storage and bought up to his office. With the help of the blueprints he could figure out almost all of the inner workings and what they were meant to do. But robotics weren't really his thing. He'd played around with it a little in his engineering career but his true work mostly lay in building structures, not free moving robotic cats. Despite his lack of knowledge though he was picking it up quicker than he would have given himself credit for and felt confident that he could have the thing back in perfect working condition by the next day.

A good thing considering the timetable Rufus had him on. Reeve had to have everything ready to go before Rufus arrived at Costa del Sol in three days time.

*

Reno dumped his bag on top of the bar pointedly and stared at the barkeep.

"Whiskey."

"Juice," amended a voice next to him.

"Whiskey," Reno said again staring at the confused looking man behind the bar.

The tired sounding voice next to him sighed and repeated, "Juice. You're not flying a helicopter drunk. There are well founded rules against that kind of thing."

"One fucking drink is not drunk, Tseng."

The resulting silence said it all.

"Fine," Reno grumbled. "Juice, with vodka. What time are we leaving?"

"In a rush?"

"I thought Rufus was. I thought you were too."

"No rush, Rufus is going on ahead. We are to report back to Midgar sometime in the next few days to pick something up."

"What's the something?" Reno asked after motioning for the barkeep to get a move on with his drink order.

"A spy apparently. Heard anything about it?" Tseng asked curiously.

Reno thought for a moment. "Not a damn thing. But then again I've been at home for a week waiting to be able to walk a few paces without intolerable pain."

Tseng finally looked at Reno properly. "How are you anyway?"

"On some heavy duty drugs but walking. Hey d'you think they mean helicopters when the bottle says not to operate heavy machinery?"

Tseng shook his head ruefully and looked back toward his drink. "I think that is the kind of thing they had in mind yes."

"Can't be that heavy," Reno reasoned, "flies don't it?"

A pair of arms encircled his waist and squeezed him tightly making Reno almost yelp. Immediately they relaxed and a concerned Elena came around beside him. "Ouch, sorry. I thought you would have healed by now. There are such things as materia."

Reno winced and looked 'round at her. "There's only so much materia can do El, don't be a moron."

"Well excuse me for being concerned!" she sniffed before leaving his side and finding a spot up at the other end of the bar next to Tseng.

"I think you just opened me up again," Reno groaned. "So what was this about a spy?"

"Oh, nothing," Tseng replied evasively. "We'll rest here a little while before we get back to Midgar. You can go say hi to Tarran if you like."

"Good idea. Still don't know why Rufus made it sound like such a rush then. I could've done with a bit more time to heal up." Reno brightened up, "This means whiskey right?"

*

Reeve didn't like doctors. He especially didn't like the Shinra doctors for the mere fact that the medical profession seemed just like something they had to do in order to get the knowledge necessary to become a scientific researcher rather than a healer. As if them having the knowledge necessary to heal a person of sickness and injury was just a side job when compared with their real work of messing with a person's genes. The fact that he was here in prep for brain surgery with one of them was not lightening his anxieties much. Well, at least it wasn't Hojo.

Dr Ishida put down the file he had been looking at rather intently and refocused his attention on Reeve.

"The good news is that you seem in good health. You are a surprisingly healthy man considering your age, but I wouldn't go so far as to say perfect health either. Your eating habits account for a lot of nutrient deficiencies affecting a number of your internal organs but it is very minor and does not affect your brain or its functions in any way. I did notice a bit of scar tissue on the brain scan that I was surprised at finding though."

Reeve winced. "I hit my head."

"With what?" Ishida asked surprised, "A door?"

"Actually yes," Reeve confessed. "The doctors told me I was in no danger of brain damage though."

Ishida blinked in shock. "Well, um, they were quite right. A hairline fracture in your skull that has since repaired itself. I only asked because it will make cutting difficult."

Reeve swallowed thickly in his nervousness. "Cutting?"

"Yes of course, how else would we gain access to your brain? Has the President not told you about the procedure?"

"Not much," Reeve admitted.

"Quite an ingenious design, I must admit," The doctor told him with sincerity. "Professor Gast was a genius after all. The designs for the remote piloting systems came with a chip. It is a computer chip that will allow you constant access to the robot and all its functions quite intuitively. I'll admit that anytime you need to really focus on the robot you may not be able to carry on consciousness in your own body but for the purposes of simply walking and reacting you'll find yourself able to concentrate on both the robot and your own body simultaneously. In a way you will have two bodies and one driving brain behind them both."

Reeve couldn't help the unbelieving look that crossed his face. "One little chip will be able to do all that?"

"Apparently so. The chip itself is tiny but it will have many tendrils that will be linked up with many different parts of your brain. While you are not concentrating on the robot it will be directed by your subconscious. It will undoubtedly take some time to master and at first I don't believe you will be able to operate both your own body and the robot at the same time but I have faith that you will get the hang of it."

This was all a bit too much for Reeve to take in for the moment. He still couldn't get his head around the idea of why Rufus even wanted him to do this in the first place. Invasive brain surgery, he was fairly certain, wasn't something he remembered signing up for when he had first gone over his contract for Shinra Inc. Sure he could see the wisdom in sending the robot, it was the idea of it being an ace Shinra spy that was laughable. And the necessity for him to have the thing's remote control surgically plugged into his subconscious seemed to be taking matters a little too far to say the least. But he supposed it was no worse than Soldier fared when it came down to it. At least he wasn't going to have his entire physiology mutated by alien genes after being bombarded with almost lethal does of mako. At most he'd have an inch long permanent scar somewhere on his head and a really neat party trick.

The doctor meanwhile was taking his silence as a negative reaction and tried to arrange his features into something more reassuring. "Look the robotic mog will do most of the work anyway. You will really only be controlling the cat. So long as you give voice commands through the cat to the mog, you will not even have to make the thing walk."

Reeve nodded. "So, when do we do this thing?"

"We need only to await Miss Scarlet's arrival before we can begin. That is scheduled for sometime tomorrow I believe. The President was adamant that we begin as soon as possible."

"We have to have Scarlet here for this?"

"Well yes. Midgar is under your command at present, yes? You will be unable to fulfill that role for some time after your surgery. You will be unconscious. In fact we will induce a medical coma to give you time to heal. We need you recovered from the procedure before we can, hah, switch you back on."

"How long?"

"Depends. I feel confident that it will probably only be for a couple of days will the proper use of materia. I wanted to infuse you to make the recovery that much faster but the President was against it. It would take too long you see. After that maybe a couple more days to acclimatize to the chip and train you in its use."

"Train me? I was under the impression that all of this technology was untested. How can you train me?"

"I can follow Gast's notes easily enough. I assume since he built it all that he knew what he was talking about."

"Swell."

*

Reno slapped his left pants pocket almost spilling his beer.

"Fucking vibrate," he swore.

Sitting opposite him on the other side of the small table was Tarran, They were sharing a cold beer out on his balcony overlooking the harbor.

"The holiday over?"

"Guess so," Reno answered not bothering to answer the phone. "Looks like it's back off to Midgar for us."

Tarran nodded and took another swig from his bottle. "Why do I always get the impression that you are never that keen to go back the fair city of our birth?"

"Don't know what you're talking about. I'm keen. Buoyant even."

"Uh huh." Tarran answered unconvinced.

Since leaving Midgar Reno's childhood friend had done very well for himself. He was head of security for the Shinra Junon offices and probably made more money than Tseng did. He had a beautiful penthouse suite overlooking the harbor from one of the top tiers of the city itself.

"So when do I get to meet this girl you're stalking?" Reno asked not so deftly changing the subject.

"Not stalking. I've been out on five dates with her already. Never thought I'd say this but I think I'm in love."

Reno rolled his eyes. "You say that about every girl you date. Till you manage to fuck her brains out of course."

Tarran simply smiled. "Not this time. Already tasted, still want more. And more. And more, I might add."

"Great. I'm never telling her brother that his sweet little sister is dating one of my bum friends from the slums. I get the impression he could be touchy about that kind of thing."

Tarran shrugged. "Guess we'll find out at the wedding."

Reno had been drinking beer at the time Tarran said that and he almost had the beer come out his nose when he gagged. "What? You are not getting married."

"Not yet," Tarran conceded. "But we will."

Reno slapped his pocket again. "Oh for fucks sake Tseng!"

"Answer it, he's probably keen to get back."

Reno didn't answer his phone but he did get to his feet. "Guess that's my queue."

Tarran looked up at his friend curiously. "If you aren't that keen to go back, don't. I mean it's only a job right? You can bum off me for as long as you like."

"Don't tempt me. And it's not just a job anymore, Tarran, you know that."

"That's right," Tarran smiled knowingly, "Gotta get back to Reeve."

"It's part of it." Reno admitted. "But it's not like he needs a babysitter. He's older than I am."

"Only in actual years Reno."

"Har har. Believe it or not I actually have people relying on me for my skills and intelligence."

"People have always relied on you Reno, I think that's your problem. You make yourself too useful. You keep talking about never making any real life decisions for yourself but the truth is that you just end up with the person that has the most use for you. I've talked to Rankin since we've left, he may have hated you most of the time but he's never replaced you. You've got to ease out of it like, don't try and do so much on your own and give others a chance to show themselves off and you wont be missed. Then you can come live out here. I've never replaced you as a best friend either you know."

Reno thought this over for some time. "You know if I taught El properly...Nah, Tseng would go spare."

"Would he really?"

That took some thinking over. Reno had to admit that Tseng hadn't been happy about Reno's performance for quite some time now. It wasn't like it was in the beginning when there was just Tseng and him against the world. Even when Tseng really needed Reno in those early days, they had fought more than anything about Reno's work ethic and tactics. Sure they didn't fight as much anymore but Reno could tell that something between them had changed. Tseng no longer trusted him. At all. It wasn't even as though the lack of trust was totally unfounded, but despite their past differences he had always assumed that if nobody else had his back, Tseng did. He couldn't honestly say that he felt that way anymore. Tseng had threatened his life before, Reno was under no delusions that if Tseng felt Reno was being anything but a loyal and noble Turk Tseng would do more than threaten next time. Reno figured the only reason he was still alive at all was because he was a necessary evil for both Shinra and Tseng. Reno knew he was good at what he did, there was no reason to be modest about that but if Reno thought about the situation honestly, Tseng might even be glad if Reno packed it in.

"Maybe not. But I can't even think about what you are suggesting at the moment. All this shit with Sephiroth and Avalanche... There is no way I could leave with all this shit going on."

Tarran actually looked surprised. "To be honest I'm surprised you're even considering it. You may pretend otherwise but I know you like being a Turk."

"It sickens me to admit it, but yeah, I kinda did once."

"Not anymore?"

"No, not especially."

"Well," Tarran began standing up, "I'll hold you to that. Save the world from the evil bad things and promise me that afterwards you'll think about taking up my offer. Seriously think about it I mean."

"I will." Reno promised.

*

Reno arrived back at the airport to find and impatient Tseng waiting for him.

"Didn't you get my messages?"

Reno just shrugged. "I'm here aren't I? I was ready to go the moment I got here, you were the ones wanting to cool his heels here remember? What's the great urgency now?"

"We need to get Scarlet back to Midgar to take executive control of the city for a while." Tseng explained as the started off together toward the helipad. "We are her escorts."

"What? Why? Where's Reeve?"

"Still there," Tseng replied. "But he needs to prepare for an assignment Rufus has planned for him."

Reno looked at his boss oddly as he walked. "Evasive much? What's really going on?"

Tseng sighed, "I'll explain on the chopper."

*

_Notes by Ace:_

_okay so this chapter was a little odd wasn't it. AF had already done part of Chapter 20 none of which could be used for this chapter because of game timetable problems. I went back to play the game through so I could keep up with where everyone is supposed to be and what they are doing and whatever when I came upon the problem of Cait Sith. Rufus was already in Junon after all and still there was no mention of Reeve's spying mission with Cait so a little not quite so creative editing later and here we are. I've kept the whole introduction of Cait as close to AF's original notes as possible but I had to scrap almost an entire chapter of Reeve/Reno stuff in order to get Reno to Junon which AF had totally forgotten that Reno was there with the other Turks before Rufus left for Costa. Then Coral, then Gold Saucer there Cait. Not a great deal of time to play with, so this chapter is ludicrously rushed in order to pick up the pace a little and get into the proper game schedule. _

_One thing I have noticed is that there are no real set places for the Shinra boys for most of the game. I mean Rufus lifts off in a chopper from Costa but doesn't catch up to Avalanche till he gets to Rocket Town. Both Rufus and the Turks seem to have their own airborne mode of transportation but still manage to barely keep up with Avalanches slow assed progress over the world map, go figure. But he I guess it means more creative license for me, yay!_

_Bitching over now, promise_

_Ace._

btw, Tarran is an original character from AF series I Must Be Insane

updates and news can now only be found on the Neo Midgar News mailing list at Yahoo Groups.


	21. I'm In

What You Do To Me

by AF

**Chapter 21**

by AF & Ace

**I'm In**

Reno stood numbly by the bed and watched Reeve breathe. If it wasn't for the steady rise and fall of the man's chest, Reno could believe that Reeve was dead. His face was so pale it almost matched the white sheets.

He didn't want to be here for this.

But he desperately didn't want to leave either.

Ultimately, he didn't see the point of him being here. What for? Tseng had told him that it was only temporary. What did Tseng mean it was only temporary? Reno was here because what had been done to Reeve was a permanent change. One that would have to be closely monitored in its initial stages. Granted, Reno preferred himself in charge of Reeve rather than, say, the Shinra doctors, but what about his condition was going to change between now and…ever? Apart from the obvious that Reeve would hopefully wake up and stop looking quite so like a corpse.

There were too many things Reno knew Tseng wasn't telling him. And not all of it was probably about Reeve's condition.

"He's resting well, Mr. Reno. You don't need to stand guard over him just yet."

Reno had been so deep in his own thoughts, he hadn't even noticed Ishida come up to stand beside him.

"Resting well? He's gray."

Ishida made an irritated noise in his in his throat. "He has just undergone major brain surgery with results that will affect him for the remainder of his life. How, might I ask, is he supposed to look?"

Reno gave Ishida a quick once over. "I have my orders, Sir. I'd rather stay here."

"I cannot have you roaming around the labs all night! With special care and the use of materia he should be back on his feet in less than a few days. I will not have a Turk here! My experiments are very delicate."

Reno sighed. "Should I put it another way, then? Try to have me removed and you'll be removing several pieces of that glass beaker out of your rectum for weeks. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, Mr. Reno. But unfortunately, your scare tactics will not work so easily on me. You forget that I made many a Turk what he is today."

"What, a raving psychopath?"

"Oh, you are a clever one. I had always wondered why I liked you. Please yourself then, stay here. I will implore you not to touch anything outside this room."

"Never fear, you couldn't pay me to touch half the stuff you deal with."

The doctor rounded the bed and checked over the mass of machines hooked into Reeve, making notes and to Reno's relief finally left. Reno then got on with staring at his friend.

There were so many people he felt like killing right now. The first and foremost was Rufus. This had to be the newly made president's idea. What an idiot he had been to believe that when Rufus finally took over the company things would become less complicated and a lot more fun. The fact of the matter, Reno was coming to believe, was that Rufus had spent so much time waiting in the wings that when the time had come for him to take over he had leapt upon every little opportunity he had at his disposal in some weird attempt to be better and more formidable than his father had ever been. Rufus had been a fun Vice-President because he hadn't been in total control. He didn't want to please his father, he could do almost anything he wanted and he had the freedom of not having to be totally responsible. He always knew he'd do better with the company than his father ever had and now he seemed to be almost over zealous in his attempt to prove himself right.

The next person he wanted to kill was Tseng. Tseng had obviously known about all this, hinting at spy stuff when Reno first got to Junon without actually telling Reno about the details till it was way too late for Reno to try and talk Reeve out of it.

The final person he wanted to kill was Reeve.

Reeve must have known about this plan before Reno left Midgar and he hadn't said a word to Reno about it. Before Reno had left he had been practically living with the man in Reno's apartment while Reno had recovered enough to fend for himself. Every night they saw each other and every night Reeve hadn't bothered to mention the upcoming and possibly fatal brain surgery Rufus had ordered him to undergo. And the thing that made Reno most angry with the other man wasn't that he hadn't told him, but it was the fact that even if he had, Reno knew Reeve would do it anyway.

Reeve was little better now than Shinra property. Possibly forever with the amount of hardware now implanted in his brain.

"Congratulations Reeve," Reno told him quietly, "You were the one that made me stay."

*

Reno must have fallen asleep at some point and woke only when someone touched him on the shoulder. He jolted awake at the touch and it took him a few moments to get his bearings and remember just where he was.

"Reno, let go."

Reno hadn't realized he'd grabbed the offending hand and released the tight grip on Tseng's hand.

"Habit," he muttered.

Tseng walked over to the end of Reeve's bed and looked the man over with a surprising amount of sorrow in his eyes.

"Well, Rufus wasn't joking I guess. I'm still unclear as the whether this idea is genius or the desperate act of a crazy man. I guess time will tell."

Reno rubbed his eyes and tried to sit up. "How long did you know about this?"

"Not much longer than you. Before you came to Junon."

"So what's the bet? Rufus needed a spy and decided to use Reeve because he really does think that ridiculous robot is the only thing that will pass muster and Reeve is apparently the only one who could possibly learn to use it in the crazy small amount of time we've been given, or because he thinks Reeve's got too much time on his hands and therefore wants to stop what his paranoid brain perceives as being an in house threat before it starts by giving Reeve something to do other than contemplate the evils of Shinra?"

"Why not both?" Tseng answered shrugging, surprising Reno with his candor. "But you are also forgetting a third option."

"Oh?"

"While you were off on your little bender, Rufus and Reeve had been closely working together trying to ferret out some of Shinra's nastiest little secrets. I think he misses working with Reeve to be honest. He trusted Reeve very implicitly when they were working together. And Reeve's little speech did a lot to sour that trust. I think he sees this as a way for his friend to redeem himself."

"All of the above then? Hang on, Rufus and Reeve were never really that close."

"On the contrary, Rufus' friendship was instrumental in getting Reeve back onto his feet after you had so violently knocked him off them. You were away for almost a year remember?"

"I never get tired of you bringing that up." Reno muttered sarcastically. "Whatever, I vote Rufus has slipped a cog."

Tseng made a non-committal sound and turned away from the bed. "In either case there is some good news in all of this."

"I find that hard to believe."

"A little sour, aren't we? Reno, I'm giving you the job of training him. At least that way you'll actually be getting paid to sit by his bedside which I suspect is where you'd be anyway given the choice. I might as well make your time spent here useful. Reeve is not a spy, he'll need at least basic understanding of how to think like one and to be perfectly honest I actually feel like giving you a job you might actually like for a change that doesn't involve blowing things up."

Reno gave his boss a funny look. "Who are you, really?"

"Very amusing. Just say thank you, Tseng."

"Um, thank you."

"You're welcome. There is one condition however, and don't you dare disobey me. The moment Reeve is the slightest ready to begin his mission, you inform me promptly. If you get too soft hearted about this or want to keep him out of it and don't inform me in time, might imply to Rufus that Reeve is holding back and that could be worse. Do you understand?"

"Yeah I get it."

"Good, I'll leave you to it. No doubt you both have much to discuss."

Reno had been so focused on Tseng he hadn't noticed Reeve had started to move a little. Reno got up and crossed over to the bed to check on him. He looked around for Tseng, but his boss had left the room.

He took up one of Reeve's cool hands and watched him face intently. Eventually Reeve's face screwed up a little and Reno felt his hand being squeezed. Without opening his eyes, Reeve said,

"Reno?"

"Yeah, I'm here. And what do you have to say for yourself?"

Reeve opened his eyes but he seemed unable to focus his eyes properly. "Surprise?"

Even after everything, Reno found it hard to suppress a small smile. "You fucking idiot Reeve."

"That's me." His face screwed up again and he sucked in a breath. "Don't suppose there's any chance of some really strong drugs is there?"

*

"This is ridiculous," Reeve muttered.

"I'm starting to feel the same way," agreed Ishida, "I have so much else to do as it is without having to deal with you and your inability to follow the simplest of instructions."

"It's too difficult!"

"Of course it is, which I believe is why Mr. Shinra was so adamant that it should be you behind the metaphorical wheel as it were of this little enterprise. You are an engineer. Start thinking like one."

"Engineers work with their hands, we need to see things to manipulate them."

"You can work things out on a computer can you not? Work an entire reactor from one in fact. Think of your brain as being the computer, work with it."

Reno was starting to share Reeve's ire with the whole situation. This had been going on all day without so much as a five minute break and even Reno was starting to twitch. He couldn't imagine how frustrating it must be for Reeve.

Reeve was currently wearing a deep frown in reaction to Ishida's latest instructions. But like the dutiful person he was he followed his instructions and closed his eyes. Reno however was under no delusions that this scheme of Rufus' was ever going to work. Not just that Reeve might never be able to use whatever bits of software Ishida wired up in his brain but the whole scheme in it's entirety.

Reno gave the ridiculous looking spy in the corner the eye. And then he almost bit off the tip of his tongue when it twitched.

Quickly he looked back at Reeve in time to see the man tilt dangerously off his stool. Before he realized what he was doing he stepped over to Reeve and caught him before he fell. Reeve was unconscious.

Ishida sighed deeply and shook his head.

He didn't know why, but Reno took affront to the look he was giving Reeve. "He's worn out, what do you expect?"

It seemed Reno had misunderstood the look though. "Actually he's doing better than I suppose I have any right to expect. We're falling behind schedule though and I know the President was wanting to get this project up and running within days of now. Unfortunately we just do not have the time to coddle him.

"I think getting him to have a good night's sleep is hardly coddling him." Reno pointed out.

"Fine, you win. Take him home, get him to practice after he rests and bring him back in tomorrow afternoon. President Shinra will want an update."

*

Surprisingly, Ishida had taken the bandage off Reeve's head before releasing him from the lab. Shinra technology at it's finest meant that Reeve was only missing about and inch and a half of hair slightly to the left near the top, towards the back of his head that the rest of his longish hair covered when it was tied back anyhow, and Materia meant that the wound had closed already. Though Reno believed there would be a permanent scar left by the operation.

Reeve was more or less moving under his own steam when they left the Tower, but needed support once they got to his apartment.

"You know, we might as well just get a live-in service and share it between us if we're gonna take it in turns in and out of hospitals you know."

It wasn't that long ago that Reeve had been the one looking after Reno after he had last been hospitalized.

"As long as we take it in turns we can just look after one another." Reeve suggested leaning heavily on Reno after making it in through the door.

Reno nudged the door closed with his foot and threw the keys at Reeve's couch. Reno dropped the bag containing the robot cat unceremoniously on the carpet by the door and began leading Reeve toward his bedroom.

"I don't want to sleep. I've spent the past three days sleeping."

"Yeah, and you're gonna spend at least one more afternoon sleeping too. Then you are going to eat. No super secret spy training on an empty stomach I always say."

"I can't believe you're going to be my spy teacher," Reeve smiled as they entered the bedroom.

Reno helped Reeve sit on the bed and crouched down to help him off with his shoes.

"You can thank Tseng later. Or not, depending how you're enjoying spy school."

Reeve laughed lightly. "Spy school. I think you're making fun of me."

Reno pulled off one shoe and started on the other. "Only a little. I'm mainly making fun of the whole idea to be honest."

"Weird huh?"

"To say the least. But it's too late now to try and talk you out of it, so be a good boy and do as teacher says or I'll have to go to the headmaster. And trust me, if you get Tseng here instead of me, you'll find him a stricter teacher than me."

Reeve yawned hugely as Reno tugged off his last shoe and stood up. He leant over grabbed the bottom of Reeve's tee shirt and pulled it up over his head perhaps a shade too roughly for someone recovering from brain surgery.

"Ow." Reeve eyed Reno for a moment while the other man went over to drop the shirt on a chair in the corner. "Am I being punished for something here? You're not quite being yourself. Yeah you're cracking jokes and helping me out but I get the distinct impression that you're a tad pissed off with me."

"Of course I'm pissed with you," Reno told him coming back to Reeve. He might have confessed being angry, but he didn't really sound that annoyed. "You knew about this before I left for Junon. You didn't tell me. I'm pissed."

"Funny, you don't sound that annoyed."

Reno shrugged, "I've got no real right to be. I can't start bitching about you not trusting me or whatever 'cause you've got no real reason to. That's not your fault so I can't really take it out on you." He concluded matter-of-factly. "You gonna sleep in your jeans or what?"

"It's not a trust issue Reno. I knew you'd try and talk me out of it, that's why I didn't tell you."

"You're damn right."

"Well, Rufus practically ordered me to do it. If you tried to talk me out of it you probably would have succeeded and I'd be in the shit right now for disobeying. Truth is you have more power over me than I'd like to admit sometimes."

Reno was very obviously trying not to smile. "Pants?"

"Oh right." He undid his belt buckle and went to stand before dizziness made him sit back down.

Reno rolled his eyes and brusquely pushed Reeve backwards on the bed and tugged off his jeans, throwing them after the discarded shirt in the corner.

Reeve sat up a little unsteadily now in his boxers and rubbed the back of his head. "You know I distinctly remember apologizing."

"I know. You're still a fucking idiot," Reno told him without a hint of malice. "Just letting you enjoy the benefits of your actions."

"Now I know you're still pissed."

"How so?"

"We're in my bedroom, you've just undressed me and you haven't made one crude remark yet. You might say I'm still feeling a little under loved."

Reno went to open his mouth and then abruptly shut it again as though the thought hadn't occurred to him of what he'd been doing. After all he hadn't seen the other man this naked in over a year. He found his eyes had begun to wander of their own accord and abruptly closed them to stop himself.

"I take it back, you're not an idiot. You're a bastard. I hadn't realized that."

He could feel Reeve smiling.

"Wipe that smile off your face, and get some sleep."

"Yes, teacher."

*

The next few days with Reeve were spent alternately at the lab at Shinra or at Reeve's apartment teaching Reeve how to be a spy. Luckily, the latter for Reeve was going to be much easier than most Turks found it. He didn't have to guard his emotions much, worry that body language would give him away, or learn how to sneak around. The robot had little facial expressions, he wouldn't be expected to scale walls, climb fences or pick locks. The only thing he needed to learn was what Reno referred to it as "The Art of Lying".

It wasn't as though Reeve was incapable; he just took too long to think about his answers to even the simplest of questions. He needed to learn to lie easily and without thinking. He also needed a cover. The best place to meet up with Avalanche would be the Gold Saucer. They knew Avalanche would have to go there; there was nowhere else really to rest up between Costa and Gongaga and re-supply. North Corel wasn't much of a town these days so it wasn't a stretch to believe that Avalanche would pass through. It was the perfect place to run into something like Cait.

The fortune teller skit had been Reno's idea.

"Hey, makes about as much sense as anything else does about this scheme. You have to seem to have a function at the Gold Saucer but not an important one. You can say when you run into them that they look like they have interesting futures and you want to travel with them to see if your fortune comes true or some bullshit like that."

"Seems a little flimsy, don't you think?"

"Yeah, well for some reason I just can't think of anything more viable for a robot cat riding a mog, can you? Normally I'd go for the hard done by ex-employee with a grudge kind of story but because it is a robot cat riding a mog I can't really see that playing out. Or any other kind of serious story for that matter. At least this way you're not likely to be deeply questioned about who you are and where you came from. You're just a concerned robot cat with a thorough work ethic."

"I suppose it's better than anything else we've come up with," Reeve conceded.

Reno could tell that Reeve just wasn't up to arguing. He looked so tired these days the bags under his eyes were bigger than the actual eyes themselves and he had a washed out pale quality to his whole demeanor that made him look like he was suffering a terminal illness rather than someone on the road to recovery. He'd mentioned his worries to Ishida just to have the doctor tell him that this was expected and that learning to use the robot was putting a big strain on his mind and would do till he learnt to master the controls and it became second nature.

The robot itself was actually coming along quite nicely. Reeve had rudimentary control over most of its body and was getting the hang of talking through the thing as well. He couldn't do any of it at the moment without going into what Reno had starting calling his 'trances' and when the robot spoke, Reeve spoke out load too, but they were actually ahead of schedule as far as training went. He remember what Tseng had told him about not coddling Reeve too much but anyone could see to look at the man that there was no way Reeve was ready yet and he dared Rufus to look at Reeve at the moment and contradict him on it.

But it was only a matter of time. Reeve was becoming increasingly competent with using the robot. He pushed himself whenever possible to get used to the controls and it was paying off. And after a few days he even started to look better. When he was alert and could think a little more clearly his ability to respond through Cait and lie without pause was coming along. Finally there was no way Reno could put it off any longer.

*

Reno was waiting for Tseng outside the bathroom on the executive's floor, leaning up against the wall, deep in thought. He almost didn't catch his boss' uncharacteristically surprised expression when he almost ran into him.

"I didn't expect to see you in today," Tseng told Reno starting off down the hall without another word. He often did this just expecting the other person would walk with him. Tseng wouldn't stop for anything if he was busy. His boss's assumptions always annoyed him, but he caught up to his boss anyway.

"Well, you told me not to coddle him so here I am."

"Already? I would have thought it would take a couple more days at least."

"What can I say, he still looks three quarters dead and he keeps going into a coma every time the robot sneezes but it walks and talks okay and if we don't move soon I figure we'll lose our best chance of a meeting at the Gold Saucer."

Tseng gave him an odd sideways look. "Is he ready or is it just the deadline?"

"Mostly the deadline," Reno admitted. "But he'll do. Besides, you're the one who said asap, remember?"

"I honestly didn't think you'd take it this seriously. Fine, I'll come see him this afternoon."

"Don't you want him to come in?"

Tseng shrugged, "Why bother? All we need is the robot, we'll drop it off at the Gold Saucer on the way."

Reno stopped walking. "On the way? We're leaving Midgar?"

Tseng actually stopped as well and turned to Reno. "Yes," he replied a little impatiently. "We need to check in with Rufus and then run an errand for Scarlet. We'll probably be gone for a week or so."

"Who's gonna be left in Midgar?"

Tseng sighed, "Remember the good old days when I used to tell you we had a mission and you just went on it without question or complaint?"

Reno's snorted. "No."

"Actually I can't remember either. Everyone will be out of Midgar. Including all the Turks. Reeve will be in charge again."

"Remember me telling you he was three quarters dead and comatose half the time?"

"Rufus doesn't care. "

"He probably prefers it that way." Reno remarked sourly. "Look, Reeve hardly remembers to feed himself at the moment."

"Then we'll bring him in after all and set him up in the infirmary where Ishida can watch him."

"But-"

"Reno, let it go, you're coming."

*

Tseng's visit went as expected. He saw the robot, saw what it could do, stared at Reeve's rather still gray visage for a little longer than was probably comfortable for Reeve then gave someone who was technically his boss his marching orders.

As Reno walked him to the door Tseng was frowning. "I almost wanted to check him for a pulse."

"You kidding me? He looks ten times better today than he did even yesterday."

"Bring him in tomorrow and then we'll leave, Rufus has been waiting for us. Apparently the hunt isn't going too well."

"Yeah, my hearts bleeds for him."

*

Reno didn't bother going home that night. Actually he hadn't been home at all in the past couple of days except to pick up some clothes and an overnight bag. He had been staying on the couch at Reeve's place which meant it was easier to look after him and also because Reeve's couch was actually more comfortable than his own bed at home.

As comfortable as it was he was still awake when he heard something shuffling across the room heading towards him. Reno turned his head toward the sound knowing what it was even before he saw the Mog going past him. He put out an arm to stop the mog.

"Reeve, go to sleep."

The robot cat on top of the mog looked down at him. "I can't sleep. Did I wake you?"

The voice didn't sound like Reeve's voice. But his tone gave him away.

"Watch the voice, and I was already awake. Did you need something?"

"Just wanted a glass of water. I can get it though."

Reno stretched and got to his feet. "Bit lazy sending the cat isn't it?"

"Reno really I can get it," the robot protested following Reno into the kitchen. "I was just a little dizzy that's all and I figured I might as well get some practice if I could."

"Uh-huh, and I suppose that highly dexterous cat there isn't going to drop the glass on the floor again like last night huh?"

"Whoops."

"Yeah, whoops."

Reno snapped the light on in the kitchen and filled a glass of water. The mog and followed him and watched him from the doorway before Reno finished what he was doing and shooed it away from the door. He went into Reeve's bedroom and flipped on the lamp by the bed. Reeve looked like he was asleep. Reno sat down on the empty side of the bed a looked back at the robot that had also followed him into the bedroom.

"You want me to just tip it down your throat or are you gonna wake up for this?"

"Hey, Reno, notice something?"

Reno gave the robot a look, then gave Reeve a look, then gave the robot another look.

"You're sleeping naked?"

The mog rocked back on its heels playfully. "No, well yes, but that's not it. Can you hear me talking?"

Of course Reeve was right. The robot was talking but no sound came from Reeve. That was a new step. It meant he wasn't going to be such a security hazard anymore that was for sure.

"You want a medal?" Reno asked with little humor.

"Sure, just make it a shiny one." The little cat grinned

Reno couldn't help but smile. "You're a freak you know that? Are you going to wake up or not?"

"I dunno, it seems to be easier to get a smile out of you as Cait. Maybe I should stay this way."

"I wonder if I poked you in the ribs whether you'd feel it or not?"

"Actually that's a good question."

Reno didn't poke Reeve in the ribs. He leant over and brushed some hair back off his face and looked at the robot expectantly.

"I felt that. Wow, that's so weird."

Reno had a nasty thought but didn't bother voicing it. "C'mon, fun's over. I've got to get some sleep tonight."

The robot gave him a smile. "You can do better than that."

Well at least he wasn't the only one who had nasty thoughts. "Yeah, well this is a little bizarre, even for me."

"What would a little kiss hurt?"

"You fucking tease. I'm going to bed."

Reno was about to get off the bed when Reeve caught his arm. Reeve had woken up.

"You're quicker on the wake up these days," Reno observed.

"Sorry, I was only kidding around."

"Got you to wake up didn't I?"

"Hey, Reno."

"Mmmm?"

"We're not going to see each other for a while are we?"

"I'm sure you'll live without me."

"Oh, I know I will. But I wouldn't have lived up until this point without you."

Reno didn't quite know how to take that.

He lay back on the bed, head resting on Reeve's stomach.

"That's a weird thing to say," Reno said eventually.

"Huh?"

"Most people would say you were alive today despite me, rather than because of me."

"You know what I mean."

"No, really don't."

*

"Hey you!! What're you lookin' so down for!? How 'bout it? Want me to read your fortune!? A bright future! A happy future! Oh, but don't hold it against me if it's not a great prediction!

"Oh, so sorry! I'm a fortune telling machine. The name's Cait Sith."

"You can only read the future?" Cloud asked skeptically eyeing the robot.

"You kidding!? I can find missing things, missing people, anything!"

"Then can you tell me where a man named Sephiroth is?"

"Sephiroth, right? Okay, here goes!!"

The mog rocked backwards and forwards on its heels. He figured he might as well make it look like he sort of knew what he was doing. In reality it just seemed to Reeve as a good ploy while he thought up a convincing enough lie. It wasn't necessary at the moment, because this part had been carefully rehearsed with Reno earlier. But Reno had told him that he should start using any helpful quirks as early as possible in order to seem less suspicious when using them later on while people might be waiting for am answer. They had thought of this quirk early on when Reno had complained to him that he still wasn't quick enough in his responses when he wasn't allowed to tell the truth.

Eventually the mog spat out a random pre-written bit of fortune cookie nonsense. Part of the robot's fortune teller upgrades. To be believable though it had to seem random. This first one was supposed to just be a bit of fluff with little hidden hints that they should trust him. Better they think of him as some non-threatening guileless toy.

"...Ordinary luck. It will be an active fortune." Cloud read aloud. "Give into the good will of others, and something big'll happen by summer. ...wait... what's this?"

Then again, it probably wouldn't do to be a laughing stock either. He hadn't really read over that one.

"Huh? Let me try again."

Another one was spat out. This one was supposed to lead him into joining Cloud's group. "Be careful of forgetfulness. Your lucky color is... blue?...Forget it."

Damn. Whoops, wrong one.

"Wait, wait give me another chance! Wait! Let me try it again!"

Another little dance. Another piece of paper.

"...What the!?" Cloud exclaimed after reading the latest fortune.

"What?" Aeris asked trying to peer at the note.

"What you pursue will be yours. But you will lose something dear," Cloud read.

Finally!

"I don't know if it's good OR bad...This's the first time I ever got something like THIS." He tried to make Cait look as thoughtful as possible, finally nodding to himself as though he'd just made up his mind about something.

"Then shall we?"

"What are you talking about?" Aeris asked.

Reeve had already worked out his line for this, it was after all the moment he'd been waiting for.

"As a fortune teller, I can't help but think about this. If I don't see what it leads to, I won't be able to relax. That's why I'm going with you!"

"What are we going to do, Cloud?" Aeris asked eyeing the robot a little unsurely.

"I'm comin' with you no matter WHAT you say!" Cait responded as firmly as he dared.

In the end it seemed to work to Reeve's own great surprise. He was shocked that such a tactic had even worked or how trustworthy these people were of strangers.

Back in Midgar, sitting in his new bed in the infirmary of the Shinra Building Reeve couldn't help but grin a little at the small accomplishment.

"I'm in."

_Notes from Ace:_

_Well, more game stuff, sorry about having Aeris out on the date there guys 'cause I know there are more Tifa fans than Aeris fans but I thought I better just stick to the default game stuff and everything. I know this chapter ran a little quick but it was filler mainly and hopefully will get to more actual story now that we've gotton over the great Cait hurdle and we can get back to our boys a little more. You can all thank Race for pointing out that we were getting a little away from that so there will be more relationship stuff next chapter I promise._

_Cheers_

_Ace_


	22. Long Distance Non Relationship

What You Do To Me

By AF

**Chapter 22**

Long Distance Non-Relationship

By AF & Ace

"So where are you now, or is that supposed to be classified?" Reeve teased.

Reno rolled his eyes at the phone lying on his bed before going back to hunting through his pack for his toothbrush. "Halfway between Gongaga and the end of the world in a shitty little Inn in the middle of nowhere. I suppose you're in your big beautiful apartment complete with running water, air conditioning and a huge comfortable bed."

"Lying in the shade of the air conditioner on my bed sipping a glass of water actually."

"Blow me, Reeve. I can't believe you get paid more than me. And I can't believe they let you go home already. You were supposed to be watched over for another week at least."

Reeve laughed. "Well at least you have company. The place's starting to feel a bit lonely now all my friends have left me."

"I could give you the name of a good club where I promise everyone will want to be your very good friend."

He could hear his friend groan. "Not that again. I'd be more tempted to go to Scarlet before going there."

"See now you're just being desperate. I may have visited some shit places in my youth but at least I never fucked Scarlet."

"Reno, you still are in your youth. But I can see what you mean."

Reno gave up on his search and flopped onto the bed beside his phone where he could hear the speaker better. "Look if you're that desperate you could always order me home. I'd be happy to oblige. Better yet! Hop on a chopper and come out here for a bit of roughing it. Only problem is that I couldn't tell you exactly where here is."

"Don't tempt me."

Reno froze in the middle of picking something out of his teeth with a fingernail.

"Surely the temptations of Reno can't be all that great."

Reeve laughed. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

Reno shook his head in response to some internal question and laid his head back. "You're going to give me heart failure if you keep teasing me like this."

There were a few moments of silence before Reeve spoke again. "You remember when you were staying with me?"

"Remember? Reeve, it was last week."

"Right, well, I remember waking up a few mornings, going and taking breakfast in to you and not realizing that I was doing anything out of the ordinary. Does that make any sense?"

Reno had to admit, he was clueless. "Not really. Will this result any way in me getting laid when I get home or are we playing the hypothetical game again?"

"Ah, quite possibly and no."

Reno sat bolt upright and stared at his phone in shock. "Tell me you said that in the right order."

"I did. But I'm not quite sure on the severity of each answer. I don't want…complications."

Reno closed his eyes for a moment and ground his teeth. "You fucking evil man, Reeve."

"Hey, wasn't it you that used to tell me not to take everything so seriously?"

"Might have been", Reno conceded. "I say a lot of stupid things."

"Well, so do I. Like that promise I made you take."

"This is a test isn't it? To see if I'll crack under pressure."

"No. And I know you're thinking that this is the reason I made you take that promise, but it's not. I just," Reeve exhaled loudly into the phone, "this is going to sound really selfish and pathetic."

Reno intensified his frown. "You're lonely. And frustrated and all the rest."

"Sounds bad doesn't it?"

Reno thought things through for a moment. He wondered briefly if he could stand the whole non-relationship with Reeve. He wasn't sure, but he wasn't about to say no either. Reeve could have picked someone else.

"You /do/ know who you're talking to, right? Most of the rumours about me are true, you know. But there is one thing I'll still call you an evil bastard for."

Reeve sounded concerned. "Which is?"

"I'm still out in the middle of nowhere you prick! Recall me to Midgar now before you change your mind!"

He could just imagine the evil little smile on Reeve's face. "I doubt I could. It's really not up to me."

"Malicious little fucker, you just wait!"

With that, Reno stabbed the cancel button on his PHS and leapt up from the bed. He had the door thrown open and was down the hall in less than a few seconds. Within five he was bashing on Tseng's door.

Tseng had obviously been trying to sleep. And for once Reno didn't appreciate the fact that his boss slept in the nude.

"I need to go back to Midgar."

Tseng was still half asleep and didn't seem to hear Reno the first time. The second time it sank in though and Tseng stared at his Turk in incomprehension.

"Aren't you going to tell me why?"

"I can't on the grounds that you'll probably beat the shit out of me before telling me to go back to my room."

"Personal business then is it?"

"Family matter, Sir."

"Reno over the years you've already had days off for ten grandmother's funerals. If another one has just died I'll have to get the science department to look into your heritage."

"I have a big family, Sir."

Tseng sighed. "Reno, I'm pretty sure it took you twenty years to work out what your parents names were, let alone any other family members."

"Extended family, Sir."

"Specifically who?"

"Well I'd consider my close friends to be family. That's you, Rude, Rufus…Reeve."

Tseng looked into Reno's eyes for a while. "You're right, I am going to beat the shit out of you."

"How do you know it isn't something serious?"

"Because, Reno I would have heard about it. Go back to bed, or I'll put you to sleep myself."

Tseng was about to slam his door but Reno got a boot in. "So that's a 'no' then is it?"

"I /will/ break your foot."

Reno removed his foot and let Tseng slam the door closed.

"You did notice I put your name at the top of my extended family list right?!" Reno called out.

When there was no answer a further, "Unfeeling bastard!" was added.

A door down the hall opened and Rude poked his head out. "Reno, go to bed or /I'll/ beat the shit out of you."

The next few days for Reno were not fun.

They had met Rufus on the road halfway between Costa and Gongaga; apparently his chopper was having some issues and wouldn't fly. The stubborn prick still refused to go back to Midgar though and felt it was a much more in his interests to hunt down Sephiroth. If Reno didn't know Rufus better he would assume the reason was because Sephiroth had killed his father and Rufus was after some kind of revenge. But Reno /did/ know Rufus better and therefore realised the revenge was probably how Rufus would like outsiders to see it but he was really hunting the thought-to-be-dead ex-solider for reasons other than the obvious. The Promised Land myth, for instance, that Old Man Shinra had seemed somewhat obsessed about kept cropping up whenever he prodded either Tseng or Rufus, but Reno wasn't convinced about that theory either. Sure, the myth apparently spoke of a place rich in mako but Reno personally didn't believe a word of it, and he found it hard to believe that Rufus could either. Of course, all this travelling the globe was good for Rufus in other ways. It made Shinra's power felt in the outlying regions that his father had never really visited in the past. Chasing down a rogue like Sephiroth made it look like Rufus was fearless as well and that Shinra wouldn't stand for any kinds of terrorism, even from the Great General himself.

Reno's theory about spreading Shinra's might seemed verified when Rufus insisted on the Turks keeping the chopper and he, Palmer and a few troopers would continue in a buggy up to Rocket Town via Nibleheim. It seemed Rufus wanted as much exposure as possible to all the towns that Sephiroth might have passed though rather than any real need to speed to actually catch up with the bastard.

Promised Land? Yeah right.

While Rufus was busy getting the new face of Shinra out there, it looked like most of the real work was landing back on the Turks. Their new assignment was to escort Scarlet on a tour of a nearby reactor to see if there was anything salvageable enough to aid in defeating Sephiroth. At least Rufus wasn't stupid in that regard. He knew it was going to take more than him and a shotgun to get rid of this threat.

Even Reno, who had joined Shinra maybe six months after Sephiroth's apparent death, knew the man's rep. He knew there was probably no one man alive who could take the decorated hero in a fight and thankfully this seemed to be something Rufus recognised as well.

At least time, for once, was on their side. They had a few days of rest at Rufus' camp before having to head off to the reactor in order to time it with Avalanche's estimated arrival into the area. It seemed that Rufus didn't appreciate having them so close to him in the field as was hoping to slow them down a little. Orders weren't actually to kill them though. Now that Reeve had apparently infiltrated their group successfully, Rufus intended to use it to the best advantage. They weren't precisely getting in the way at the moment and were more resourceful than anybody would have initially given them credit for. Rufus figured they would be useful unknowing pawns.

Reno just thought of them as annoying pains in his ass. Ones he could certainly do without.

But the very next day he found himself on a path in the Gongaga forest with Rude beside him waiting for the band to make an appearance. Tseng, Elena and Scarlet were up at the reactor, waiting. Get into a fight, clear out and make it look like you just happened to cross paths. Get them to be interested in why the Turks were out here in this shit hole little town and plant the seeds of future exploitation. Well, that was how it was meant to happen. It sounded unnecessarily convoluted to Reno and waiting around in this forest was really beginning to bore the crap out of him.

He decided to annoy Rude to pass the time.

"Heard from Maggie lately?"

"No," Rude replied like he didn't care.

"So it's really over huh? Thought you might have gone after her at least."

"She left me."

"Right, right. Bitch that she is, moving out of Midgar when parts of the upper plate starts raining down outta the sky," Reno said sarcastically, "How selfish of her."

"Yep."

Reno hadn't expected that. "So I supposed you're well over her then. Free agent, dating whoever he likes."

"Yep."

It wasn't very fun that he didn't seem all that annoyed. Usually mentioning Maggie made Rude want to hit someone.

"Hey Rude, who do you like?"

Rude just sighed and turned his back on Reno. It was an old game that they used to play. A funny 'what if' game that saw them through many a boring night patrol or stake out. Usually it was reduced to unrealistic match-ups that had the other laughing.

"What are you getting embarrassed about? Who do you like?"

"…Tifa."

Reno screwed up his nose at that one. Of course he knew who Tifa Lockheart was. Not only was she a member of Avalanche, but also any man with a heartbeat and a taste for cheap booze knew the beautiful bartender of the now demolished Seventh Heaven. Plus she had almost pummelled Reno half the death the last time he had seen her up close.

Reno wasn't sure if he could beat that one when it came to unrealism.

"Hmmmm, that's a tough one. But poor Elena…she…you…"

Rude turned back and rolled his eyes. "No, she likes Tseng."

Reno almost burst out laughing at that one, before he saw Rude was serious. "I never knew that! But Tseng likes that Ancient…"

Elena ran up beside Rude, her face red and eyes wide.

"They're here! They're really here!"

Reno didn't have to think long about who 'they' were. It was the reason they were here, after all. That and the fact that Scarlet wanted to look for the huge materia anyway, so getting here a little early had been the plan. Reno hadn't figured they'd be done by the time the group showed up and he wasn't happy about that they weren't for three reasons. One, he wasn't allowed to actually do Avalanche much damage since having them run around with Reeve reporting everything they found out was far more valuable that just simply having them out of the way. But Reno still had to make it look good at the same time so as to not arouse their suspicions. Rufus wanted them hurt and slowed but not killed. always a tricky proposition. The second reason Reno really didn't want to do this was a little more personal. Reeve would be with them and he wasn't keen on Reeve seeing him at work, so to speak. Even if it was just for show. Third was that yes, the Turks were here to slow Avalanche down, but Reno hadn't counted on Scarlet keeping Tseng with her which left them woefully outnumbered.

"Hmm…Then it's time…" Reno muttered just wanting to get this over with. A little louder, part of the show, partly to rib Rude over his bogus statement about Lockheart, but mostly to insult that Strife guy who'd left him such a big scar, Reno added, "Rude…Don't go easy on them even though they're girls."

"Don't worry, I'll do my job."

"Then, we're counting on you," Elena told them both. "I'll report to Tseng!" With that Elena ran back up the path towards the reactor. Reno rolled his eyes. It wasn't that Elena was a coward, far from it really, but she really would take any old excuse to talk to Tseng. Poor, girl, she'd find out soon enough.

Now that Elena was gone, Reno had a real chance to focus on the new arrivals and was while not surprised, if little unsettled to see Cait there in the front row next to Cloud Strife. He forced a grin on his face and slipped his nightstick out of his belt loop.

"It's been a while," he began conversationally. "Payback time for what you did in sector 7."

Strife drew the sword off his back and gave Reno a filthy look. "Out of our way."

"I don't like being taken for a fool," Reno responded.

"That's as far as you go," Rude told them.

Strife starting running toward them and Reno, who had enough of that sword the first time, fired a bolt that hit Strife square in the chest. It took him down, and he'd stay that way for a few minutes, at least. That out of the way, Reno was able to meet his next attacker, Lockheart. He blocked her punch before it could get through to him but was distracted a moment later when a shuriken grazed his arm. Tifa's next punch nailed him in the face with a force that knocked Reno back on his butt on the dirt path. He managed to roll backward out of the way of Tifa's kick and get to his feet only in time to stumble back away from a sword swipe by the way-too-soon recovered Strife. Reno felt the sword cut his forehead but dismissed the pain; if he hadn't moved the bastard would've cleaved his head. He spared a glance at Rude only to notice the rest of Avalanche had him pinned down by gunfire. Reno saw blood soaking through the leg of Rude's pants and realised that without being able to use their own firearms, this fight was going to be incredibly short and not have a happy ending. He and Rude needed to retreat and hope that Elena had had enough time to warn Tseng.

Reno hadn't had a chance to keep track of Cait's movements other than to know the robot must have been going after Rude. He dodged to the side to trip an incoming Tifa, then ducked the sword swipe that whistled through the air where his head had been moments before. Reno was turning to call the retreat to Rude when he found behind him a big mog blocking his path. The mog hesitated for a moment before raising a massive arm and punching Reno in the side, nearly knocking him off his feet. Pain seared up his side and Reno was positive he'd felt something break. He scrambled away before Strife could come at him again while he was reeling and called to Rude that the fight was over. Rude dashed as well as he could from the feeble cover he'd found behind a rock and followed Reno into the brush. The pair stopped a moment later when they couldn't hear any sounds of pursuit.

Reno sat down on a tree stump while Rude just sat on the ground, blood soaking the material of his pants leg. He felt his side gingerly, and gasped at the pain it caused. Yep, probably two or three broken ribs. It seemed that out of all the people trying to kill him today, the one that had done the most damage had been the one on their side. Wasn't that interesting?

Well they'd failed their mission abysmally. Not only had the group not been slowed down by the seven to two odds in their favor, he doubted he'd done more damage than muss Tifa's hair and give Cloud a slight headache.

"Can you walk?" He asked Rude after the pair had sat still for a few minutes. "We need to get to the chopper so we can go pick up the others."

"I can if it means getting out of this shitty hole of a town."

"Here, here."

*

Avalanche were just settling down for the night in Cosmo Canyon, so Reeve took the opportunity to switch Cait off and have a stretch, something to eat and catch a few hours of sleep himself before he needed to get back to the group. Not that the whole thing was really that tiring anymore. He found he didn't have to be unconscious anymore to pilot the robot and was vaguely aware of his surroundings when his mind was elsewhere, but he hadn't yet mastered the art of multitasking to the degree where he could live the two lives simultaneously as the doctor hinted he would be able to. He supposed he never really would, not when Cait was fighting or concentrating on the group. But he held out hope that the mundane things like walking, which they seemed to do a lot of would allow him to just keep the robot in the back of his mind so he might one day be able to get back to work. As it was he was at least happy to be back in his own apartment away from the labs. He didn't find the labs relaxing one little bit.

A knock on his door stopped him entering the kitchen immediately and instead went over to open the door.

To Reeve's surprise, Reno stalked in without waiting for an invite and walked over to stand in Reeve's living room. He didn't look particularly happy. Reeve closed the door and joined him. Not only did Reno look unhappy, he looked like he'd been in a major fight and lost. Horribly.

"Jeez, you look like shit Reno, what the hell happened?"

Reno's jaw clenched biting back the first thing he was going to say to the other man. Instead he didn't answer immediately and took the opportunity to calm his thoughts before replying.

"You were there you know."

Reeve looked confused for a moment before the truth dawned on him completely. "Avalanche did this?"

Reno forced himself to remember the position Reeve was in. Effectively he was a spy. Avalanche could not suspect they had a spy in their midst and he knew Reeve had to act the part. The fight in Gongaga with Avalanche made him all too aware of this fact. And while he was also aware that Reeve had done his best to leave Reno alone for the most part, a small part of him couldn't overlook the fact that a rather sore bruise on his ribs was where a certain spy had pummeled him not two days ago. It was the first and only time in the fight that Cait had touched him at all but it stung all the same.

"Mostly. This," he said pointing to a deep half materia healed cut on his forehead, "is from Cloud Strife and his over compensating sword. This," he continued pointing at his swollen cheekbone, "is from a very attractive brunette by the name of Tifa Lockheart. But this," he said lifting up part of his dangling shirt and showing off the angry purple and yellow bruise on his side, "is my favorite. This is by far the most painful. This is where I was clobbered by a mog."

Reeve winced. "/I/did that?"

"Yes. You tend to remember when a five-foot mog breaks two of your ribs. It makes an impact."

"Fuck."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought. I know you have to make it look convincing and everything but you could have pulled that punch a least a little."

Reeve smiled a little sickly. "I thought I did."

"Well, your little toy mog still hits like a truck, pulled punch or not. I noticed you didn't hit Rude."

"It had nothing to do with preference, Reno," Reeve said defensively. "I had to make it look like I was on their side. I couldn't just hang back and do nothing."

Reno watched him speculatively. "You're not getting too involved with them are you?"

"Of course not! Do you honestly think I want to hurt you?"

Reno let his shirt fall finally and sighed. "Well it's not like that mog isn't hooked directly into you brain or anything. Maybe something in your subconscious wanted a little revenge."

Reeve didn't look amused. "If I wanted to hurt you Reno, I would have by now and I would have done it with my own hands. Just because you're a Turk doesn't scare me anymore. You can still bleed like the rest of us."

Reno hadn't really meant his little outburst to be taken quite that seriously. Actually he was a little surprised by Reeve's reaction to it. "You seem to have thought about it though."

"I can't see why you aren't surprised. As if a small part of your brain wouldn't want to plot revenge if our roles were reversed," Reeve challenged.

"Actually, I'm not sure I would have," Reno replied honestly. "Would it make you feel better to take a poke at me now? Would you like me to fight back or just take it?"

To Reno's utter astonishment, Reeve hauled off and slugged him in the face. Reno felt as well as heard his nose crunch just before he lost his footing and fell backwards onto the floor. In another situation he might have been proud that he'd been able to teach Reeve so well on how to hit someone. Instead he just felt pain, shock and surprise at what had happened. As soon as his head hit the floor he felt warm blood gush from his nose and stream off down the side of his face. He looked up at Reeve from his prone position on the carpet unable and unwilling to move. It wasn't from the pain so much anymore, it was mainly due to the look on Reeve's face that kept him immobilized. Reeve's face was red, he was breathing hard and his look was murderous.

Eventually, though, his expression began to soften as realization began to dawn on Reeve. It turned from murderous rage to abject horror in the space of about thirty seconds.

"I'm sorry."

Reno let Reeve help him to his feet and into the bathroom where he was sat on the edge of the tub while Reeve steadfastly refused to look at him busying himself with wetting a towel at the sink.

"Do you feel better?" Reno asked once he got his jaw to start working again.

Reeve rounded on him, anger flaring once more. "You think I got some sort of pleasure out of that?"

"Hardly. But it must have got something out of your system at least."

Reeve handed the damp towel to Reno. "You could just lay off the whole thing if it's all the same."

"You don't want to talk, that's fine. I'm frankly a little over it myself. I'm scum. I get it. I don't really deserve to be forgiven, I get that too. But you're either past it or not. I think we have to get that straight right now."

"I'm not." Reeve told him bluntly. "I can't forgive you, I can't get over it."

"At least we got that sorted." Reno concluded quietly.

Reeve sighed. "But I can't get over you either. Sometimes I think I'm so stupid even being in the same room as you. Sometimes I can't stay away from you. I think I'm going a little mad."

Reno adjusted the wet towel over his nose to alleviate the pain of the pressure on it. "This is not healthy for either of us. We should have parted on better terms just after I came back. Half the time we're all over each other, the other half of the time we fight. Maybe it's time we moved on. At least for the time being." Reno felt sick to say it, but he felt it needed to be said. Reeve was right, the conflicting emotions were driving him up the wall. "We shouldn't be friends."

"Easy to say. We work together. We have to deal with this."

"We don't have to. I'm starting to think that Shinra just isn't my thing anymore."

The anger had died from Reeve's expression once more and he actually looked a little sad. He sat on the floor next to Reno and leant against Reno's legs. "You can't leave. You can't leave me to deal with this on my own. Not again. If I am really angry about anything it was about being left alone to deal with it all myself. I'm not sure if it would have helped if you had been here or not, but at least I wouldn't have been alone.

"I know what you mean." Reno sighed. "It's not just us is it? The whole world seems a little more insane every time I step out into it. But we can't keep fighting like this."

"Sure we can. At least it gives us something else to focus on instead of work."

"Tseng did tell me I should get a hobby outside of work."

Reeve actually looked on the verge of laughing. "I'm not entirely sure this is what he meant."

Reno took the towel off his nose and sniffed a few times. "You broke my nose."

"Perhaps you shouldn't have taught me so well."

"Perhaps. But if I hadn't started teaching you look at all the warm fuzzy and slightly psychotic times you would have missed out on. I should have gone back to the office and done my report like a good little boy after all."

Reeve looked up at his companion curiously. "So you would take it back, everything, if you could."

"Yes." Reno answered promptly. "Nothing was worth what happened. You can't tell me it was."

Reeve seemed to think it over for a few minutes before answering. "Probably not. But then I can't say I exactly want a do over either. I might request some strong tranquilizers next time though."

Reno laughed in a half-hearted kind of way.

"So should we go back to teasing each other now, or do you have a handy potion about the place I could use?"

***

Notes: Well, perhaps hitting your prospective bed partner was not the best foreplay in the world…who knew? Is this irritating people yet, the set up for getting back togetherness and then the disaster that prevents it? If not, I'm really not doing my job properly hehe. I know, it's probably getting tired and slowing the story really majorly too so I'll try not to dwell in the future but really those two are what the story is primarily about. Oh and if people are confused about that line of Reno's about not taking him for a fool you're not alone. I hated that weird and out of place line but it's apparently in the game and it seemed better than the alternative at the time. So don't hurt me for it, I was just following game script. Anyway, off to Nibleheim next kiddies and then Rocket Town, both of which should be covered next chapter if I'm really inventive and gloss over Rocket Town I might even get some Temple of the Ancients action in there too. Don't hate me when you realize what that means…

Ace


	23. Comfort

What you Do To Me

Chapter 23

Comfort

Cait wandered around the pods with mixed feelings. Here was the big secret that he and Rufus had been trying to find out about all that time ago. And because Rufus and Reeve had begun digging, they were told the truth in the end. But knowing what was here and actually seeing it with close to his own eyes was something completely different.

Reeve had known, too, that Shinra was more than just a power company, but he hadn't really even taken that fact in. Shinra wasn't a government; it was a business. Well, it was supposed to be. When exactly had a corporation taken over near ruler ship of the entire world?

He knew it had always been like this but now Reeve was wondering how all this might look to an outsider. To him and everyone else out there it was just status quo, but to any outsider it would seem ludicrous. It was an unsanctioned dictatorship that followed no rules or regulations; Shinra did whatever it wanted in an ever-increasing bid to make more money.

Even the grotesque things in the pods in front of Cait were to further that dream - soldiers to beat down Shinra's enemies and give them a stranglehold on the world economy. Well, that's what they were supposed to have turned into; none of these sad wretches was ever going to make the cut, though. Now they were just experiments, probably failed attempts to make another Sephiroth. Reeve felt sick. He'd been told about this, but like everything Shinra he'd put it into the back of his mind as just another way the world worked. Well it sure shouldn't work this way.

He watched Cloud for a moment and the troubled frown that seemed almost permanently etched into the blond's face since coming to Nibleheim and had to wonder about a few things. That his home town was still here after he'd seen it burn would trouble anyone Reeve supposed and he wasn't about to tell Cloud that rebuilding Nibleheim had more to do with Shinra covering their own asses than a real want to rebuild the township. But it seemed like more than that.

What was more troubling for Reeve was finding out that Cloud had apparently witnessed Sephiroth's destruction of the town all those years ago. Even more, that he had been the one to take Sephiroth down the first time. Reeve had never met Sephiroth before; it had been before his time at Shinra. But he'd read a lot of reports and from what he could tell, Sephiroth had been near unkillable. Cloud had skills and was a formidable warrior, but taking down Sephiroth? Reeve had been briefed about what little they knew of what happened here by Shinra and Reeve didn't ever recall Cloud's name being mentioned. That troubled him too. He needed more information.

It was a couple of hours after dark when the group finally made it over the mountains and camped in the fields on the other side. Reeve stopped concentrating on Cait and called Tseng. Even though it was getting late, Tseng agreed to come over.

"Reeve, you should be sleeping." Tseng told him, taking a seat on the sofa.

"It isn't that late," Reeve insisted. "It's been a big day, we were in Nibleheim today."

"Oh? The hometown of two Avalanche members and apparent first death place of General Sephiroth. This should be good."

"Confusing might be a better word," Reeve admitted. "Look, I know this must be an obvious question, but I'm sure you've looked up Cloud Strife's record by now."

Tseng frowned. "And why is that?"

Reeve hadn't been prepared for that. He'd assumed the moment it came up that Cloud was ex-Shinra that somebody might have bothered to look at his file at least.

Tseng answered Reeve's confused expression. "Extensive files aren't really kept for Soldiers who wash out in the first couple of months. We get a lot that enter the program but don't make it through."

"What do you mean don't make it through? He said he was First Class."

"So you said, but I think he must have been talking himself up a little. It's undeniable that he must have been in Solider, his eyes have the mark, and he wears the uniform. But he was a mercenary yes? Saying you are Soldier First Class sounds a lot more lucrative than a wash out that didn't make it to Third Class. Otherwise we would have a file on him, we simply couldn't find one. And if he were Solider First Class, I would have remembered him. We haven't really had that many that has made the cut in recent years, it's a very exclusive level. Some Soldiers don't make it past Second in their entire careers. Most don't make it past Third."

"Yes but a Soldier career is generally a pretty short one isn't it?"

Tseng smiled. "Mostly."

"Just how many candidates do you get every year?"

"Over a hundred apply. You can add thirty or so more that are recruited by the Turks. Maybe fifty will make it through basic training. The others either wash out afterwards or don't take to the first round of mako enhancements. Or both. I assumed Cloud Strife was one of those. The first lot of enhancements usually wears off over time without further treatment and he wouldn't have gotten that without making it into Solider. It is bizarre that it didn't happen in his case, but not totally unknown. "

Something about Tseng's explanation was bothering Reeve. "Okay, look, I can understand lying about your status to get a job or, who knows, maybe he was trying to impress Tifa even, but why keep on with the same story after everything that has happened since? Why make up new stories even? And alright, I can't pick it up very well when someone is lying to me, but he sounds pretty adamant about certain things. I think he really was there when Sephiroth went missing."

Tseng looked amused. "That would be half a trick. I actually know there was another Solider than accompanied Sephiroth to Nibleheim, just one, and I personally knew the man in question. His name was Zack Fair, not Cloud Strife. And Zack is dead. Reeve, you must admit that he might be lying to you all about quite a lot of details. Besides, wasn't Tifa Lockheart there as well? You said she tends to look funny every time Strife talks about Nibleheim. She may very well be in on it too."

Tseng was making some very good points. Reeve couldn't imagine why Cloud might lie about it, but he had to be.

"Lying about Soldier or not, I'll bet he was in Shinra for a good couple of years. He knows too much about us."

"Interesting idea, I hadn't thought about that. He might have transferred into Soldier from somewhere else. I'll get Reno to look into it for you. He has a knack of digging through the Shinra archives that I don't share. I'll get him to report to you tomorrow."

Reeve could just imagine Reno's complete lack of joy at that prospect considering their last conversation together. He didn't dare make any comments to Tseng, though.

"Is there anything of major interest to report? It's getting rather late."

"Oh not really," Reeve replied offhandedly. "There's nothing about Nibleheim that you don't already know. And my professional observations about the reactor probably won't interest you. Oh there was one other thing. We picked up a new member. I can't believe I almost forgot about Vincent! Very strange, found him locked up in the basement of the Shinra mansion, if you can believe it."

It could have been Reeve's imagination, but Tseng seemed to go very still for a moment at that news. "Tell me about it. Everything."

"Uh, sure."

* * *

Reno poked his around the door to Reeve's office and frowned at the occupant. "What are you doing back at work?"

"Um, working."

"What around the normal unsuspecting people?"

"It's just for a couple of hours."

"Sure, where have I heard that before?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Reeve told him in a passing imitation of innocence.

"Whatever, look, are we still pissed at each other? I can't remember."

"Let's say we aren't and take in from there. How's your nose?"

"Perfect and cute as a button. Thanks for the potion. How's your hand?"

"It's stopped hurting."

"Good, are you free tonight?"

Reeve blinked in surprise. "Actually that depends."

"Not going out and drinking, I'm not stupid. It's actually work related. Tseng told me he'd leant me out to you to dig around in the archives for that overcompensating git Cloud Strife. But what he failed to mention was the assload of work I already have with a Solider recruit that I may or may not have neglected to sort out last week. I won't get into the archives till this afternoon and from what Tseng tells me Cait should have reached Rocket Town by then and I figure you'll have your hands full 'till dark at least. Here's a heads up from Tseng, too. He passed his report along to Rufus, who was already heading to Rocket Town to arrange alternate means of transportation for himself. He was very interested to learn he might catch up to Avalanche there."

"Fantastic. That should make things interesting."

"So you wanna do this tonight or wait till tomorrow?"

"Tonight. I need answers. Can you come to my place around eight?"

"Sure, I'll bring the beer and pizza."

* * *

True to his word, Reno showed up at eight with not only beer and pizza but also a laptop haphazardly clamped under one arm.

"You own a computer?" Reeve asked in disbelief when he let Reno in.

"Sure. I mainly only use it to look up porn but it saves me carrying a shit load of papers around with me too. I came straight from work. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to sift through those archive files."

"Tseng said you had a knack," Reeve told him watching him sit on the floor in front of the coffee table and flip open his laptop.

"Yeah he would say that. He can do it, he just doesn't like it. And Rude hates computers. I'm not a whiz with this shit like Rufus is, but you could say I've developed through necessity a certain understanding of Shinra's version of a filing system. I'm merely the slightly better choice out of three very bad choices. But hey, found what you were after."

Reeve took a seat, grabbed a beer and a slice of pizza and got comfortable.

"There's a good reason Tseng couldn't find mention of him."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Reno replied grabbed in slice for himself. "It's because he was looking in the Solider files."

Reno passed the computer to Reeve so Reeve could see what he'd found out.

"Can you just give me the highlights? I'm so exhausted I can barely read."

"Sure. Cloud Strife, Nibleheim native, applied for the Solider program at the age of fifteen. A little young, but that wasn't what the problem was. He was untrained and completely useless at trials but wasn't so bad that they didn't want to give him another try. So they took him on as a Trooper so he could gain some combat experience."

"And then what?"

"And then nothing." Reno replied with his mouth half full.

"What?"

"And that's it. A Trooper he became and a Trooper he remained till he went MIA around five years ago. According to the records, he never became Solider. The closest he ever came was flunking out of trials."

Reeve set the computer down.

"That makes no sense."

"You're telling me," Reno agreed twisting off a beer cap and taking a swallow. "I got to see those glowing eyes up close and personal. There was no denying he had the enhancements."

"And that means Solider right?"

"No not necessarily. I've been treated, so's Tseng. You may not know this but Tseng was originally trained in the Solider program. That's how he ended up with mako. Me, well, let's just say it was a medical emergency. It was done purely to save my life. But I'm a Turk, a trained Turk is a valuable asset. But there is no way they'd do such an expensive procedure on a Trooper. I hate to say it, but in the military scheme of things, rookie Troopers are fodder. A gil a dozen, is how the company sees them. So unless he was giving the President blow jobs on the side, and he was really fucking good at it, I can't fathom why he would have merited mako enhancement."

"And what about the Solider uniform?"

"It's a puzzler," Reno admitted. "Could have been he just found it or stole it. I'd find that hard to believe though."

"Okay, but you said he went MIA? Where did he go missing?"

"It doesn't say. But before you get too excited that isn't so uncommon. If a Trooper goes missing or dies on certain kinds of missions, they'll just record it as MIA. Usually that will happen when we lose Troopers on seedier or classified missions."

"Surely you have access to all that."

"It's not really a question of clearance. Most cases, missions like that just aren't recorded in the files not even the month he disappeared, just the year. It's not like there's any more to dig up in Strife's file 'cause it wasn't there in the first place. The best I could do is search around for the mission reports around the time he went MIA and guesstimate which one he was involved in. And there's more than you can imagine of those types of missions in a single year. His squad all went MIA so I can't even ask them what happened."

"So did you look?"

"Reeve it took me all afternoon to find out what I did. I can look into it from here on my computer if you want, but that could take hours."

"Do you mind?"

Reno looked at him for a while without enthusiasm before shrugging. "For you, sure."

The pizza had been consumed hours ago and so had the beer Reno had bought and also whatever Reeve had in the house too. Reno didn't dare look at his watch in fear of what time it was, knowing that he had a Turk meeting first thing in the morning.

His ass was asleep from sitting on the floor and Reeve was only half awake on the couch, his head dropping every so often only to snap back up before he could fall fully asleep.

"You know I could be doing this at home. Every day you start off with Avalanche, then doing Shinra work and then in the evenings back with Avalanche again. And that's if you haven't had to visit them in between as well, which I know you do. You can't focus on both your lives yet without it taking a toll, you have to get sleep when you can."

"My access to Shinra's mainframe is faster here than at your place, I'll bet."

"Fine, I'll stay here, you go to bed. Or better yet, we'll pick it up again tomorrow."

"No. Look I'm sorry I'm making you do this now, it's not fair just because I'm curious to keep you up this late. But I don't know what I'm doing or what I'm looking for like you do. Please, I want to finish this."

Reno looked on the verge of refusing but seemed to think of a better idea. "Okay, I'll stay here and keep looking. You sleep."

"No. If you have to stay up and do work for me the least I can do is keep you company."

Reno smiled, "You're hardly doing that at the moment what with nodding off every five seconds. Seriously it won't bother me if you go get some rest."

"No, I'm alright."

Reno's smile dropped in the face of Reeve's stubbornness, but he just shrugged it off. However after five more minutes, Reeve's head lolled forward onto his chest and he started snoring.

"I'm not sure I can describe how adorable that is in a manly enough way."

Reeve didn't wake up. So Reno got to his feet, grabbed his computer and kicked Reeve's foot. "My ass has gone to sleep so I'm going to go sit on your bed and finish my work in there for comforts sake. You coming?"

If Reeve had been more awake he might have wondered why Reno didn't just sit on the couch. But being half asleep and the last thing he remembered was wanting to keep Reno company just allowed him to be dragged to his feet and led into his room. Once there, Reno let go of his arm, and moved the pillows away from one side of the bed so he could sit upright using the bedhead as a backrest.

Reeve flopped onto the other side on his stomach and after a valiant five minutes of being somewhat awake, finally fell asleep. A half an hour later just as Reno had found something interesting, the battery on the computer started to go and Reno went to get up and go plug it in. The moment he moved an arm was thrown around his midsection stopping further movement.

"Are you even awake?"

"Hnnnn."

"Was that an answer or a funny snore?"

"'M awake."

"I think you were right you know. Strife may have been at Nibleheim. But not as a Solider. I think he might have been one of the Troopers. But according to this everyone died who went to Nibleheim."

"Not everyone apparently."

"True. Look if you wanna know more tonight, you'll have to let me up so I can plug in the computer."

"No more work. Sleep."

"Alright, but you'll still need to let me up."

"It's late, stay here."

If Reeve had been more awake, Reno might have disagreed. But it was late, it was getting cold and getting a few hours of sleep here was preferable to crossing town and getting even less sleep before having to get up, cross town again and go into work in the morning. Considering how tired Reeve was, he doubted the invitation had any meaning behind it.

"You'll still have to let me go or I'll fall asleep in the bed."

"Forget the couch, this is more comfortable." Reeve raised himself a little, closed the laptop and leaned across Reno to put in on the bedside table. After that he threw his arm back across Reno's midsection and forcefully pulled him into a laying position on his back. With the arm still wrapped around him tightly, and Reeve laying against him Reno felt very comfortable indeed. Reeve started snoring again and Reno wasn't too far behind him.

* * *

_Reno awoke to an interesting sensation. A hand moving in slow lazy circles low over his abdomen. He was probably dreaming again. That was all right. That was good. Dreams were okay_.

_ He moved his head slowly to face the side and saw Reeve's face. So peaceful in sleep. Smooth and line free. He was asleep even though his hand wasn't. An unconscious reaction most probably to Reno's sleeping beside him. Of course if this truly was a dream, it didn't need an explanation._

_ His left hand, previously resting on his side, moved up to trail fingers across that smooth and stress free expression. Two glittering eyes half opened to regard him silently. Perhaps the other man hadn't been as asleep as he had thought._

_ Reno faintly smiled and nestled into the warmth beside him, closing his eyes once more. He fell back asleep._

_ A different sensation this time._

_ The hand was no longer there. An arm lay flush across his stomach now. The owner had scooted up closer. Reno could feel soft warm breath on the side of his neck and sighed into the familiar comfort. _

_ He moved his arm up over his head. It was a little numb from being in between two bodies. _

_Head pillowed on his arm he fell asleep again._

_ His arm went number at some point with the weight of his head. Moving it again so the pillow was between his head and arm, he became aware of the warm skin pressed against his side. The arm was curled possessively over his hip now, that warm breath was still there._

_ Unconsciously, Reno sighed and moved his head slightly liking the feel once more. _

_ His movement caused the body beside his to shift slightly and he felt a light but lingering kiss on the side of his neck. Reno moaned slightly. Rewarded, he was kissed again and the hand tightened on his hip._

_ Mind more than half asleep still, Reno's right hand found the hand on his hip and closed around it, lacing his fingers with those he found._

_ A more deliberate kiss near his ear now. Another moan before he turned his head in time to receive the next one on the lips._

_ A nice dream._

_ The hand moved, palm flat over his stomach causing little muscles to twitch with the slight tickle. Helplessly intertwined, Reno's went with it._

_ The lips coaxed his mouth open and a tongue flicked inside. A deep throated groan this time. Not his._

_ The hand returned to his side, urging him to turn toward the other warm body. Pulling him onto his side. He let himself be pulled over and obligingly pressed his body flush against the other one._

_Warm, and hard._

_The hand let his go and ran roughly up his side. He let it. His freed hand met warm bare skin of the other person._

_Not just another person._

_Reeve._

_Of course. It was always Reeve in these dreams. Always._

_The shirt he'd warn to bed had been rucked up slightly, exposing bare skin. Reno's hand slipped under the fabric and curled around the press his palm against the small of Reeve's back trying to urge him impossibly closer._

_A leg hooked over his own and Reno moved his in between while his hand moved lower, slipping underneath a flimsy band on elastic and down over the curve below. The fabric moved down, pushed down by his wandering hand._

_A loader groan now, forcing their mouths apart and causing the other man to arch his back._

_Reno attacked the exposed throat with his lips._

_Aahhh._

_Reeve's hand slid back down to his hip quickly but didn't stop. Catching hold of the elastic, he dragged them down roughly till his reach ran out and he was forced to drag them down with his foot with all compliance from the man he was stripping._

_Leaving his exploring, Reno reached up to catch Reeve's shirt. Relinquishing the other man's throat he urge him to lift his head and shoulders up to allow him to slip the shirt off._

_Once it was off, their lips found each other again quickly as if making up for time lost. His hand rushed down over the slightly scarred skin of Reeve's back, racing back down to rid the rest of the inhibiting clothing to find that it had been mostly taken care of already._

_Moments later he felt bare skin. Bare warm skin pressed flush up against his own._

_Uuhhh._

_And hand and the base of Reeve's spine pulling them forever closer. A hard insistent push at his belly._

_He pushed his leg in between Reeve's again and received a fiercer kiss in response. _

_A hiss. _"Gods."

_He hesitated at the voice._

_And he knew then that this… _was no dream. It was really happening. But he had gone beyond the point of stopping now. Beyond turning back. He was doing something very wrong. Something so wrong that felt so good.

Squeezing his eyes firmly closed he kissed Reeve with renewed fervor. He couldn't, he wouldn't, back away from this.

Only one more hesitation. One more moment. Just for three little words that needed to be said. He opened his eyes opened his mouth…

Reeve said something first.

"I need you."

Reno stopped. His eyes slammed closed. So that was it, this was just what was supposed to have happened when he'd gotten back from Gongaga before they'd fought. This was just sex, wasn't it?

Well, he had agreed to it hadn't he? He wasn't sure what had changed between now and then but something had and Reno found that he didn't want it anymore. He didn't want the sex, it would be a mere tormenting shadow of what they'd had. It would be better with nothing. If they just had sex nothing would change except possibly their friendship. They'd probably still fight, then fuck, then fight again because that's all that seemed to be happening lately – minus the fucking – because deep down, this was a situation neither of them wanted to be in.

Reno made a decision. One he knew he'd regret.

"Stop, no. I thought I was dreaming."

"Is it a good dream?" Reeve asked obviously not hearing what Reno was saying.

"I know I told Rude that if I ever stopped wanting sex that he was to lobotomize me with a tin opener, but I'm not in the mood right now."

"Parts of you are."

Reno groaned at that particular touch. Very, very reluctantly he pulled away and rolled over.

"Go back to sleep, Reeve."

Reno could almost hear Reeve's confusion in the silence that followed. But he kept his hands to himself and they both tried to go back to sleep. It was a very difficult task considering how tight they'd just wound each other up. An hour must have passed of intense thinking before Reno heard Reeve's light snoring.

Twenty minutes more and Reno took that as his queue to leave.

But when Reno got up, Reeve was woken by the bed underneath moving slightly as another body moved out of it. The movement caused Reeve to groan slightly and stretch underneath the covers. He cracked open one bleary eye to watch Reno buttoning the front of his shirt. The red numbers of the clock on the bedside table read 6am.

"You should know that sneaking out never works on me. Remember?"

Reno nodded at the voice, but didn't raise his eyes from the task at hand. "I remember."

Reeve tried a different tact. "It's six am, Reno. Surely you can't be going to work."

"I'm not. I have to go home and get changed. My clothes still stink. I have to meet with Tseng today. This morning. The way he's been lately, I better not be late."

Reeve frowned, a little more awake now and boosted himself up onto an elbow. "If you go in this early you'll beat him to the office by more than an hour. Stay a little while longer."

Reno sighed at let his hands drop. "I don't want to."

"Why not?"

A muscle seemed to twitch in Reno's jaw as he clenched and unclenched it. "Because I don't."

"Well that was informative."

Reno's brows furrowed and he finally raised his eyes to meet Reeve's. He looked intensely pissed off. "What you think I enjoy this? This is cruel. This is more than cruel. It's sadistic. And it's not healthy."

"What isn't?"

"This! You fucking know what I mean!"

"You went to sleep here."

"Yeah. You might have noticed that I wasn't thinking too well last night. Yeah well, today I am. And today my brain is telling me to leave."

"And I'm telling you not to."

Reno threw up his hands in exasperation. "Fucking hell, Reeve. I thought you told me to listen to my brain. Can't you see how fucked up this is? We get alone together, and every time my resolve is tested way fucking beyond. This is not friendship anymore, this is torture!"

Reeve sat up and crawled over to kneel on the bed in front of Reno. The standing man was still a little taller in this position but Reeve was still able to look into his eyes. "You're right."

Completely missing the meaning and feeling behind those words Reno said, "I know I am. And I don't think we should see each other for a while."

"No!"

Reeve grabbed Reno's arm before the other man could turn away and held him fast.

"No." He repeated. "I want to see you."

"Reeve I really care about you, but I'm going to break your wrist if you don't let go." Reno told him slowly.

"No you won't. And I won't let go." Reeve said stubbornly. "You aren't going to leave here. You won't have to see Tseng for another two hours. And I don't care if your uniform stinks when you show up. You're going to stay."

"I don't want to talk about this. I spent an hour this morning thinking about this and I've decided."

"I don't want to talk either."

"Let me go."

"No."

Reeve could see Reno was making the effort to calm down. He wasn't sure if it was working too well. "Reeve listen to me. I know I deserve all that I get and more. I know I should be happy with what I have but I'm not. I can't be. You touch me like you did last night again and I assure you that I won't stop myself."

He thought this over for a little while. "Like what?" Reeve asked innocently. "Like this?"

He let his free hand trail over Reno's shirt until it got to the section Reno hadn't had time to button yet. There it slipped inside and continued to caress his chest.

"Yeah like that." Reno said a little hoarsely.

"And what if I don't want to stop?"

"Didn't we go through this last night?"

"Not like this we didn't."

"Reeve, stop it."

Reeve looked up at him. "Don't you get sick of saying that?"

"I get sick of a lot of things."

"Then don't say it."

Reno took a deep breath and reached up to remove Reeve's hand. "I told you last night. You aren't like this. And I don't want you to be. Not with me."

"Fine," Reeve responded dropping his hands. "But if this is about that promise I made you take, I told you to forget about it."

"Yeah you told me to forget about it while you were bored and lonely and horny. You only want to break it for those reasons. You only want me because of those reasons, not because of anything else."

Reeve let out a small huff like he'd been hit. "What?"

"You could have this no strings sex with anyone you want. I think you only chose me because it's an easy decision. I'm familiar and not to mention easy."

"Actually I'm finding you unreasonably difficult at the moment. You honestly think this is still about sex?"

Reno didn't seem to be expecting that. "Isn't it?"

It seemed for a moment that Reeve was too angry to even respond. Instead he lay back down on his back and stared at the ceiling. "You know what, I've changed my mind. You can leave."

But Reno didn't. He stayed still for a moment in deep thought. Obviously he was trying to work out what Reeve had meant and possibly starting to realize just how wrong he'd been with his assumptions. But then, that was absurd. Reeve couldn't possibly want…

"Did you mean…?"

"You were right about something. I'm not someone who can just sleep with someone I care about without there being strings. I know that, you said it, so why the fuck did you think that's all I wanted. Now if you are having trouble finding the door I can show you the way out if you'd like."

"So what, you're gonna throw me out after that bombshell?"

"Yes, weren't you oh so keen to get away from me anyway?"

"You know what, I've had it! So I'm not fast on the uptake on whatever vague little hints you want to drop my way whenever you see fit. How can you blame me for being confused? Whatever, the mind games are getting old and I think I'd rather go stand out in traffic that deal with this shit any longer."

Reno grabbed the rest of his stuff and stormed out of the room. Then Reeve heard his front door slam as well.

Reeve lay there for a few moments longer staring at the darkened ceiling before he heard his door open again and saw the dark outline of Reno standing at the bedroom door.

He still seemed angry. "I'm sorry," he snapped.

"Me too," Reeve snapped back.

"Fine."

"Fine."

And then Reno was gone and Reeve heard his apartment door slam shut once more.

* * *

_Notes: Well at least there was a little bit of plot in there somewhere. As for the rest, I do love it when they get all cuddly then fight. Don't ask me why, perhaps I'm a sadist at heart._

_AF_


	24. Take Charge

What You Do To Me

By AF

Chapter 24

By AF and Ace

Take Charge

"So what, they're stranded now?"

"It would seem that way," Tseng replied rather tiredly.

Reno opened his mouth to say something else but Rude caught his eye and gave him a look that seemed to mean, 'don't'.

Reno couldn't understand. Tseng looked more worn that usual, Rufus had evidently gone insane and here Rude was suddenly worried about Reno making a quip or two at the apparent stupidity of the world. That was after all Reno's main and sometimes only contribution to these Turk staff meetings.

Across the room, Elena was watching them all with a vaguely confused look on her face.

"It means we're probably going to have to go pick him up," Reno explained to his student. Normally he wouldn't have felt like explaining but the silence that followed Tseng's last statement had started to stretch. And besides, that particular expression on her face made her look stupid.

"I don't know what Rufus is planning. If he intends on following Sephiroth to the ends of the earth he will probably just end up getting himself killed."

"So what, you're going to take his place?"

Tseng didn't reply. Just looked down at his steepled fingers with that same tired expression.

Reno was shocked. "Fuck, you really are going to talk him into letting you do it aren't you?"

"He is obviously ill-equipped to deal with the situation."

"You mean because he gets lost three feet out of a city or that he's managed to strand himself twice and has probably lost so much ground on Sephiroth that the guy might as well be on the moon by now?"

Tseng shrugged as though the reason mattered little and still refused to look away from his hands.

By now Reno's expression matched Elena's earlier one. Obviously there was something else going on here. Usually by this point into the meeting, Reno and Tseng were screaming at each other and Rude was, well, doing pretty much the same thing as he was doing now. Something else was bugging him, that was obvious. And for once it wasn't Reno.

Tseng sat there in silence, longer than strictly necessary and didn't offer any more comments. He also wasn't issuing any orders or giving them assignments. He wasn't really doing much of anything other than look at his hands. And it was dragging on. Rude wasn't speaking and Elena began to fidget. Well someone had to do something.

"Alright kiddies," Reno began getting to his feet from the office chair, "Time to get to your asses going."

"But Reno," Elena protested as Reno began herding her towards to door, "We haven't been given our assignments yet. Wasn't that what the meeting was for?"

Oh, yeah. "Go with Rude, he's got…stuff to do."

Rude raised an eyebrow at Reno but nodded eventually. "Meet me in the garage, we need to take a trip down to the armoury," Rude told Elena.

Elena gave them both confused looks but left the office eventually. Before Reno could close the door, Rude pulled him into the outer office and closed Tseng's inner office door.

"Don't pick a fight," Rude advised.

"Like I was gonna. C'mon something's up with him."

"It's not like he hasn't been in a bad mood before."

"This is different. He's not in a bad mood, I can tell." Reno shot a quick glance at the closed door, in case Tseng was listening in.

"How?"

"Cause he let me take charge of the meeting and we didn't have one single argument."

"Oh, you're right. That's weird."

"Do you really need to go to armoury, or was that just the first thing you could come up with?"

"We're low on lots of things." Rude buffed an invisible speck off his glasses. "Especially if we're going to head out into the field again soon."

"Okay good. When you're done there I want you to make sure we can use two of the choppers this week, okay?"

"Two? What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that we're probably going to have to split up. If Tseng is serious about taking over from Rufus someone is going to need to ferry Tseng wherever and get Rufus back to Midgar. And most likely someone else is going to have to go on an Avalanche related mission depending on what Reeve has to tell us today." Reno sighed. "I suppose I better go up to debrief him if Tseng's just gonna…what?" He glared at his big, silent partner.

"Nothing. Just, not used to such a take charge attitude from you, that's all."

"What, you think I'm wrong?"

"No. Just an observation. I'll get right on it." Rude started toward the door. He stopped when he got there and added. "Sir."

"Blow me, Rude." Reno called after him.

When Reno breezed back into Tseng's office, his boss actually looked up at him. What's more, there were faint traces of a smile.

"Do I have something on my face?" Reno asked warily coming round and leaning on Tseng's desk.

"You never believed me when I told you, but you have a skill for leadership."

"I guess I talk too loudly."

"I mean it, you know." Tseng got up from his desk and turned so he could look out the window behind his desk. Reno only a few paces behind him watched him with a worried frown.

"Well, I guess I can use my brain occasionally. Especially since you seem to have left your apartment without yours this morning."

Tseng didn't take the bait.

"Did you ever think that you might have to take my place one day? Actually lead the Turks?"

"No," Reno answered bluntly. "I think we both know I'm way more likely to kick it before you do. Unless you're subtly trying to tell me you're planning on topping yourself later this evening."

Tseng turned and leant back against the windowsill with a larger smile on his face this time. "No current plans."

"Good, 'cause you know the pressure of leadership gives me gas. But seriously, what bought all this on?"

"You know I'm going to have to bring Rufus back, he's doing no good in the field except presenting a nice little target for Avalanche and Sephiroth both. And you know he'll want me to track Sephiroth for him if he can't because he knows I will get results. I'm not being egotistical, this is fact. This is something we are trained to do. I will catch up to Sephiroth, I know I will."

"And why do I sense this will not be a high five moment?"

"Because if it comes down to it, he will kill me."

Reno snorted. "Yeah right, you're like the hardest guy in the world to kill." He looked at Tseng's serious expression. "Right?"

"Wrong, Reno. Sephiroth is the best fighter the world has probably ever seen. If I had to fight him, I could not win."

"So don't fight him, easy. Rufus won't actually want you to stop him all by yourself will he? He'll just want you to find out what Sephiroth's up to, where's he's going and report back, right? It's not like you have to fight."

"That will probably be the case. I sincerely hope Sephiroth sees it that way if he suspects I'm following him."

"Look, isn't this what Solider is for? Shouldn't we be sending them?"

Tseng shrugged. "What's left of Solider is out in the city. Apparently riots have started up in some sectors since the bombings."

"What's left of them?"

"We've had major desertions."

"What? Why?"

"Who knows? Most of them disappeared the night Sephiroth showed up in Midgar. Could be that they don't like the idea of facing him either."

Reno was really troubled. By lots of things his boss had just told him but mostly the realization that Tseng seemed genuinely…scared. Maybe that was too strong a word. He wasn't quaking in his boots, but he seemed to have a sense of resigned fate about him that had Reno really worried. There was no single person that Reno knew of that made Tseng think he might die. Well, until now. It was more than a little unnerving.

"Look, if you do get the assignment, just stay well away from the bastard when you find him and call in the cavalry. Easy as, right?"

"You're right. You know what's funny, I can't even really blame him for what he's done. All the torture he endured, it must have been horrible."

"Yeah, hilarious," Reno replied sarcastically.

"You know what I mean."

"Tseng, I know you knew him pretty well before he went bonkers, but the guy knocked off an entire town when he found out all the sordid details of his life. Sure, go on a bender, I can even understand killing the boss, but mass genocide? Bit of a drama queen, don't you think?"

"How do you…"?

Reno shrugged. "Little birdie. Just don't start feeling too sorry for him. I know you don't have much company spirit right now but I can tell you for sure, he is not the good guy in all this. That, even I know."

"Oh yes? And who is the good guy?"

Reno already knew the answer to that.

"When I find out, you'll be the first to know."

* * *

Reeve was off talking to some of his underlings when Reno found him. He'd quickly searched the floor when he had been unable to find Reeve in his office. Reeve wasn't supposed to be here. Again. It was at the point now where he didn't blank out every time he needed the robot to step over a tree branch, but he was never going to be able to concentrate properly on two things at once. Whenever he had another conversation going with the robot Reeve sort of looked off into space until he was done and could resume being normal again. If he started doing that in front of his co-workers they were going to think he was going insane. And he couldn't tell them what he was up to because telling everyone about your super secret alter ego sort of ruined the point of having one.

"Aren't you supposed to be at home?"

Reeve turned around in surprise cutting off the employee he'd been talking to mid sentence.

"Where's Tseng?"

"Hello to you, too. Tseng's busy, you'll have to deal with me today. I'll wait in your office if you're busy as well."

"Okay."

Reno left Reeve to talk and wandered back to Reeve's office, feeling less confident than he had on his way up here. It had only been that morning since their latest fight and while Reno was starting to get used to fighting with Reeve almost every week this last fight had left him a little more bitter than the previous ones. Bitter toward Reeve for the mixed signals and mystifying motives behind it all. And more importantly angry at himself because unlike previous fights Reno felt this time he might have really broken something between them.

Of course the feelings he had after this fight would probably disappear once again after chatting with Reeve like he always did and they could go back to being friends again, possibly teasing each other once more before it all ended up in another fight. Reno could almost see it looming on the horizon like a thunderstorm drifting ever closer, but just like a thunderstorm he wasn't entirely sure how to stop it. He could remain purely professional with the other man and let that be that, but not being around him, not being able to talk to Reeve like normal? Reno might have a better chance of turning a thunderstorm away by blowing at it. He just couldn't act cool around the guy.

Reeve came in not two minutes after Reno, catching him snooping in his date book. Reeve just sighed and closed the door behind him.

"What are you looking for?"

"Just checking out your workload."

"What about it? Is there a problem?"

"The fact that you have one, that's a problem."

"There's a lot to do." Reeve told him defensively. "I did get permission to come back to work."

"Yeah in your office. You've got to delegate. Your workers see you stare off into space too many times and they're gonna think you've gone loony."

"Actually that's just what I was doing. I've just been handing out assignments. Don't worry, I've got enough paperwork in my office to keep me busy for the next three months. Did you just come to bug me about this or was it something else?"

Reno watched Reeve's annoyed look for a few moments thinking about what to say. "Are you still annoyed at me in particular today or the world in general?"

"I have to pick one?"

"At least you haven't lost your sense of humor. C'mon, you're the one who wanted to stay friends. Actually last night you seemed to want even more."

Reeve actually blushed a little. "I'd had a lot to drink and I was very tired. Or clearly insane. Perhaps both."

"You're really going to play the 'not in my right state of mind' card?"

"Why not? You did."

That statement had the intended effect when Reno's whole expression suddenly shut down. But Reeve felt bad as soon as he'd said it.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said slumping into his chair. "That wasn't fair. But you could be a little less hostile, you know. You might have noticed I have a little on my plate at the moment. I could do without my closest friend reminding me about my latest embarrassing moment."

It was then that Reno allowed himself to see through the borderline resentment for a moment and actually take in Reeve's appearance a little better. Reeve looked really stressed. Ever since they'd first met, Reeve had always been under a lot of pressure from work. His department practically oversaw most of the mundane running of Midgar. And even though in the past he had a tendency to look a little tired, a little strained, he'd always handled the workload really well. This seemed to be not so much the case anymore. Fixing two reactors, playing spy, running Shinra itself was way more than one man could possibly expect to handle on his own. And here was Reno, possibly ruining the one comfort he had left to him.

Reno suddenly felt like an ass.

"I wouldn't call it an embarrassing moment. It was pretty hot till I decided to have a small snack of my own foot and act like a retard. And maybe later when you're in a more chilled state of mind we can have a proper discussion about that, but for now I have the good news."

Reeve seemed to have problems finding his voice for a few moments before he said, "Oh?"

"Yeah, I didn't actually come to bug you about last night, my visit here is of a professional nature so we can forgo the usual bickering if you'd prefer."

Reno had tried to keep to atmosphere a little lighter during his speech and managed to get a small smile out of Reeve for his efforts.

"I'm sure we can pick that up later. What's up?"

"Tseng's busy so you're stuck with me for the debrief." Reno told him taking the seat opposite Reeve's desk and leaning back so he could put his feet on the desk. "So give, as egotistical as I am, I can't be the main reason for the bug up your ass today."

"I think they are starting to suspect something." Reeve told him reluctantly.

"Who, Avalanche? That's hardly a surprise. Since you joined them they've had Shinra noses half up their asses for the last couple of weeks. I don't think anyone realised this would be dragging on for this long. Look, pretty soon they'll come up with something we can really use and you'll be clear of it all."

Somehow Reeve looked less comforted by this news.

Reno continued. "So last I heard Sephiroth was on his way to the temple of the ancients. Have they found the key yet?"

"Dio has the key, we're on our way now to the Gold Saucer to get it."

"Good, perfect, steal it." Reno said decisively. After all lessening Reeve's workload by one spying mission could greatly improve his stress levels.

"What?" Reeve asked surprised. "Won't that make them even more suspicious?"

"Maybe. Just don't get caught."

"And what if I do? Once they get the key I doubt Cloud is going to leave it lying around."

Reeve was right of course, then...

"Wait...Cloud? Seriously, are we on a first name basis now? You told me you weren't getting involved with these people. You're supposed to spy on them, not make friends with them."

Reeve almost smiled. "I thought I was supposed to make friends with them, gain their trust and all that."

He'd echoed the words Reno had said to him one day in training.

Reno grinned. "Smart ass. But hey, after this we might be able to justify pulling you out of there anyway."

He wanted to tell Reeve the real reason why he was concerned but he'd learnt too often in the past not to voice particular thoughts in the workplace. He didn't really care what treasonous things he might say, but he didn't want to dump Reeve in it either.

"I've been thinking of a backup plan. In case I get caught out. What if I had some way that would make sure I could stay in the group even if they found out I was Shinra?"

"That could get tricky. You mean blackmail."

"More like encouragement."

"Gods you sound like Rufus. Look, let me look over the notes Tseng has made and I'll see if I can come up with something. I'll meet you at your place and we can discuss strategy later."

Reeve blinked at the unexpected self-invite but didn't argue the point. Hopefully he realised that Reno wasn't doing this just to annoy him.

"Um, okay. I'll be going home early in order to focus on Cait for a while but if you come over after seven you should have my full attention."

"It's a date."

Reno tried after realising what he'd just proposed, without much luck, to dispel the feeling of déjà vu he felt.

* * *

It was more like half past when Reno finally showed up. But Reeve didn't seem to care when he let him in.

"So, are you gonna tell me the real reason we couldn't talk properly at work?" Reeve asked handing the other man a beer while he finished up cooking dinner in the kitchen.

Reno sat on the counter next to the stove and watched Reeve work. The familiarity of the setting was doing nothing good for him. Well it wasn't giving him bad feelings, just evil ones. It was just like the good 'ol days back before he was a raving psychotic when Reeve hardly ever hated him. Sigh.

"Depends on whether you're ready to tell me the real reason why you're so eager to stay on the mission. A couple of weeks ago you thought this was all a stupid idea."

Reeve seemed to think it over for a while. "I never thought doing something so different would be so engaging. I've actually nearly finished another Cait in case something happens to the first one. It was easy with the notes Gast left. And he left a half finished one in storage. It should be ready to be taken out soon."

"Engaging huh?" Reno asked sceptically.

"Believe it or not but our agendas aren't that dissimilar."

"Rufus doesn't want Sephiroth dead. He wants to use him. There's a slight difference. Look, this is why I didn't want to go into this at work. This kind of talk might be seen in a bad light."

Reeve stopped stirring and gave Reno a look. "You think I'm going to turn traitor?"

"Reeve, you could turn pink for all I care, but Rufus will be coming back soon and it'll be him you're reporting to. I just want you to watch yourself, that's all."

Reeve looked unaccountably relieved by this. "And here I thought you were going to give me the good of Shinra speech."

Reno realised then that Reeve had been more concerned over Reno's own loyalty rather than what Reno thought of him and whether Reno might frown at any idea he might be even a little sympathetic toward these terrorists. It didn't make him feel very good. It made him feel that Reeve didn't trust him very much.

"Bite your tongue. Though your relief might be short lived. I've thought of a foolproof way to keep you in the club. But it does involve kidnapping small children."

Reno then outlined his plan involving kidnapping Barrett Wallace's daughter and using her safety as collateral against them kicking Cait out of the crew.

"I've known where she is for a while. I just hadn't figured out the best way to use this information yet. Tell them if they don't keep you around something might happen to her." Reno finished.

The look of distaste on Reeve's face said it all. "You want to put her in a cell?"

"We could always stash her in the safe house in Kalm. We don't have anything other than holding cells in Midgar. Look we'll even keep her with the woman she's staying with. Avalanche won't know the difference. And if you're still worried about them, don't be. I'd personally be more worried about them if they stayed in the sec 5 slums for too much longer. You've seen the riots on TV."

"How is it that you can make a child kidnapping sound like a mission of mercy?" Reeve asked with a smile.

"Practise justifying a lot of seedy things I do for a living."

"Har har."

"Look, I know how you feel. You haven't been real happy with the company lately, it seems to be going around. I get it. But you've got to understand, if these people find out who you are they aren't going to forgive you and welcome you with open arms. I don't care how nice these people might seem, they're still terrorists, Reeve. That doesn't make them much different from Shinra. Actually from my rather vast experience on the subject, most of them turn out to be worse."

"And you know here I've been with them for weeks now and we haven't once plotted to kidnap a child." Reeve said with an uncharacteristic smirk.

To Reeve's surprise, Reno didn't smile at the comment. "Well they'd be one of the few terrorists I've met who don't do it."

Even though he sensed something behind that comment Reeve didn't pry. He didn't want to start another argument. He found it so easy sometimes to forget about the things Reno had been through, things they'd never really discussed, things Reeve only had the slightest theories about. Tseng had mentioned to him before that Reno's breakdown was more a culmination of the very many shitty things Reno had had to deal with for his entire life. Reeve had never demanded to know what these things might have been but just knowing there were issues that even Reno wouldn't talk to him about made him feel a little sorry about a lot of the pressure he'd been putting on him lately.

"So you want some dinner? I haven't had a proper cooked meal in ages and I think I might have over done it." Reeve said in an inspiration of kindness.

Reno sat on the bench next to the stove and leant over to take a whiff. He could see the anticipation in Reno's eyes as he smelt the sauce bubbling on the stove and he knew he had him. Reno hardly ever cooked. And when he did he did it badly. The idea of having a home cooked meal…well it was probably unthinkable to deny himself of it.

"Doesn't smell overdone."

"I meant I probably made too much for one person."

Reno grinned but not because he was going to be fed. Well maybe partially. It was mainly because Reeve had offered to make him dinner. The offer, the look, and especially that smile, it was so much like the old Reeve that it made him ache just a little and smile quite a lot.

He remembered the first time he had been in this apartment, he remember being here in this kitchen and watching Reeve's expression as Reno joked about wanting him. Well, it had sort of been a joke…and sort of not. He had not wanted there to be any secrets between them and making that joke at the time had been the fastest way he could think of to clear the air. But in all reality that first week of knowing Reeve had been difficult for Reno in a few ways. Reeve had been his first close friend that had not been either Rufus or a Turk at Shinra and he had been everything that the other Turks had not been.

Not that Tseng and Rude weren't there for him in their way. But it was in a sort of there for you without actually having to talk about it kind of a way. And for Reno that had been more than fine for a really long time, actually he had sort of insisted on it. But Reeve, you couldn't help but open up to him because he was that kind of open and understanding person himself. And Reno had fell for it before he'd even realised he'd fallen for it.

Reno's normal reaction to liking someone was to work out whether it was worth going after them or not. And for Reno that meant whether he could get away with fucking them, staying friends or whether he even cared if he stayed friends with them or not. And initially Reno had decided that he didn't want to lose his friend.

He'd known from the get go that Reeve wouldn't be the sort for a one nighter which was Reno's usual style when he found someone that interested him so much. So he had laid off and been friends and all the while telling himself not to touch, not to taste, because he would lose that friend. It had never occurred to him that he could touch and keep that friend. Reno couldn't believe how screwed up he was that actually being able to have a relationship with someone had been the last thing he had thought of. After actually having sex with him, too, on Reeve's lounge floor just in front of the door that he had beat Reeve's head against six months later. Happy place, happy place.

Being in this kitchen way back then, Reno had wanted so badly to reach out and touch Reeve, feel the smooth skin of his hand, feel the softness of his hair, feel the brush of those lips against his it had actually hurt him not to touch. But he hadn't in the hopes of keeping a normal friend, just likeReno was doing now. And just like then, although Reno had since felt that skin, hair and lips he felt that ache again like he'd never be able to touch Reeve. And it was worse because now he knew what he was missing.

With a smile Reeve lifted the wooden spoon for Reno to taste, holding a hand underneath in order to catch and spills. A blob did drip off the bottom of the spoon, hitting his hand, luckily it wasn't hot enough to burn. Reno had his taste and sighed contently.

"Holy shit that's good."

He'd obviously missed Reeve's cooking. Which Reeve thought said a lot about Reno's usual eating habits. Reeve wasn't a bad cook, but he didn't get enough practice at it to be as good as Reno always thought he was. Before he could return the spoon to the saucepan, Reno grabbed his hand and licked the spilt sauce from Reeve's palm.

"I think you missed your calling as a chef." Reno told him as though he hadn't just done anything out of the ordinary.

Something occurred to Reeve in that moment - that he had missed this. Okay so that wasn't new. Something he'd felt last night had gotten him thinking too. He'd felt it while Reno had been gone, admitted those feelings over the phone to him and had waited in Midgar for Reno's return sure in the knowledge the some form of companionship was coming back with him. It had not worked out. They fought, Reeve had hit him and they'd almost lost their friendship and certainly lost that close feeling that had only just started to reform. Later still there he was, waking up in bed to Reno, letting whatever had felt natural at the time take him over, Reno stopping it like he'd promised and then fighting again about it.

And now Reeve realized that their fighting was getting to be an excuse. Reno shouldn't have cared that much about being hit. He was in hospital every other month. He only cared so much because he thought that Reeve had really meant to hit him for hurting him. Even the offer of no strings sex had been an excuse to avoid something they both sorely missed but for various reasons were now afraid of starting again. Reno had broken Reeve's trust in the past and Reno had probably broken his own trust with himself and now perhaps they were unconsciously making each other angry or horny just to get in the way of what they really wanted because of fear that trust and hearts would be broken again. In that moment, Reeve couldn't work out why.

Okay so Reno had tried to beat the shit out of him in the past because he couldn't get a hold of his emotions and that was simply unforgivable. But it seemed it was unforgivable to Reno as well and that remorse made all the difference. And Reeve knew that if that remorse wasn't heartfelt and such a burden for Reno to have, he wouldn't have even been in the same room as him after what had happened. And he knew deep down that arguments and no strings sex was not his thing. He'd probably only ever considered such a thing because it was Reno. Reno had said it the other night; Reeve had chosen him to have that kind of a relationship with him because he was familiar. It wasn't purely the comfort he was seeking in the talked about arrangement, it was the idea of having that comfort with _him_. However, as with last night, there didn't seem to be any words Reeve could say that could convince Reno that he was still special to him.

So he decided not to use words.

Reno still had a hold of his wrist when Reeve leant in and kissed him. Reeve felt his grip tighten just a little.

At first he felt Reno's reticence after the first few moments of plain shock had past. But he kept on, more forcefully that was usually his style.

Somewhere along the line, the spoon was dropped on the floor, and he'd moved in between Reno's legs. Grabbing hold of the long ponytail, he pulled Reno's head back, breaking the kiss so he could trail his lips up the smooth pale skin of the other man's throat.

"Reeve…" It wasn't really a moan. Reeve knew it was the beginning to the inevitable Reno-trying-like-hell-to-keep-that-promise dance.

Reeve tried to capture his lips in another kiss to silence him but Reno was starting to pull back ever so slightly. But frankly Reeve had had enough. It was either going to happen now, or never. He decided to take charge of the situation.

"I'm going to be very clear about this. If you tell me 'no' I'm going to assume you don't want to get back together. And yes, you heard what I said, this isn't purely a sex thing, I want that understood. I don't want to hear any other words. You say 'no' and I will back off and never try this again. But I'd personally prefer, for once in your entire life could you possibly keep your mouth shut."

Reno was staring at him like he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. His mouth hung open as though he was going to say something. But…he didn't. Instead, he just swallowed once, closed his mouth and nodded.

Reeve smiled.

Further along the line they ended up on the floor of the kitchen, cold white tiles raising Goosebumps on exposed skin.

* * *

They both were still on the kitchen floor, unwilling or unable to move, eating cold pasta sauce directly from the saucepan. Reeve had propped himself against the cupboard behind him while Reno similarly propped, was leaning back against the fridge at a right angle, One boneless leg over both of Reeve's.

He swallowed another mouthful of cold sauce as the spoon was offered. "That really is good pasta sauce," Reno commented with a grin. It was the first proper sentence he'd had said since he'd told Reeve he ought to be a chef.

Reeve saw the grin and started laughing. And then Reno started laughing. After everything that had been happening lately between them, the fighting, the promises, trying like hell to be friends, the fact that none of that really made an iota of difference in the end was funny to both of them.

Reno was the first one to stop laughing. "I miss this feeling."

"What, post sex hilarity?"

"No," Reno snorted, "The feeling like I could just sit here forever. Contented and uncaring about the rest of the world."

"That's awfully cheesy for you? I think you really have gone mad."

Reno grinned, "So you just noticed huh? Took you long enough."

"I sort of know what you mean," Reeve confessed. "Mind you, it makes the idea of getting up and facing the world again seem a little overwhelming. Still I suppose the pasta sauce wont last forever and the pasta has probably boiled dry by now so it's either move or starve."

"Actually it's mainly a physical feeling at this point. I don't think I could move even with a gun to my head." Reno told him, shoulders slumping. "I never thought it was possible, but I think I'm out of practise."

Reeve smiled, "Didn't seem that way to me. Why, just how few people have you slept with since we were together last?"

Reno gave him a sick smile. "Does dreaming about it count?"

"Not hardly. But that doesn't mean I don't want to hear about that later."

"Then I guess the absolute and undeniable answer-"

"Reno…" Reeve began warningly.

"None."

"What?" Reeve almost dropped the saucepan.

"Is it so hard to believe that I spent all that time pining away for you?"

"Um, yes."

"And you call _me_ an unromantic asshole."

"That's because usually you are."

Reno moved a little uncomfortably. "I think my ass has gone to sleep. Though that's probably for the best."

"I think you just proved my point," Reeve told him dryly. "Are you staying here tonight?"

With tremendous effort, Reno looked at his watch. "I think I already have."

"It can't be that late."

"No, true. But I figured since my ass has already gone to sleep here, I might as well follow it's lead…oh fuck."

"What?"

"I was supposed to see Tseng at some point tonight to go over the schedule."

While Reno reached for his pants and started fumbling through the pockets Reeve asked, "I guess this means you're leaving Midgar again?"

"Not me. I'll probably have to go to Kalm for an evening. But Tseng's going to be gone for quite a while." Reno made a face. "He's leaving me in charge."

Considering Reno's track record, Reeve was a little surprised to say the least. "Um, congratulations?"

Reno knew Reeve well enough to read into the comment. He wasn't in the least upset by it though. "More like commiserations. I'm pretty shocked about it myself. I suppose him putting a murdering psychopath in charge of the Turks for a undetermined length of time is pretty good proof that he's been acting a little weirder than usual lately."

"Yeah I noticed that. Ever since I told him about Vincent, he's had this look about him, ya know?"

Reno stopped his searching for a moment and gave Reeve his full attention. "Vincent who?"

"Didn't Tseng tell you? We have two new Avalanche members since leaving Midgar. Yuffie Kisaragi and Vincent Valentine. I'm surprised Tseng didn't mention it. I just figured he didn't like the idea that we had an ex-Turk join our ranks."

Tactfully, Reno let the 'we' slide by.

Reno had already seen Yuffie. Reno knew of her of course, but hadn't been very caring one way or the other about her joining up. But he hadn't heard about Vincent. Things had just started to make a kind of awful sense to him now. No wonder Tseng was being more morose lately. After all, his former Turk Leader, the man who'd taught him everything about being a Turk was now siding with the enemy. Of course Vincent had been well before Reno's time but he'd heard stories and he knew how much a young Tseng had looked up to his mentor. It must have been a savage kick to the guts to find said awe inspiring mentor throw in with the people Tseng was trying to protect Shinra from. It might even make him start to question his own stance on certain things.

Oh, and wasn't Vincent Valentine supposed to be dead?

"I'm sure he has his reasons," Reno replied as though it didn't matter.

Finally Reno found his phone but stopped short of dialling. He looked at Reeve. "There is nothing in this world I want more than to stay here with you tonight, but if Tseng still wants to see me…"

"Yeah I know," Reeve responded with a sigh. "I suppose the world has to keep turning after all."

Very reluctantly, Reno dialled Tseng's number. He picked up after a few seconds.

"Good, you're still up," Reno said insincerely. "Did you still need to-"?

Reno's expression deflated and Reeve realized that Reno would have to leave. It was confirmed moments later when Reno hung up the phone and swore. With much effort and groaning, Reno got up off the floor and struggled into his clothes.

"Fucking Tseng and his anal need to have everything in order before he leaves." Reno swore. "Look, if I get done early I'll come back but you better not hold your breath."

Reeve nodded and watched Reno leave. Seconds after Reno had left the kitchen he came back, leant down, kissed him and then left. Reeve heard the front door bump shut. He smiled faintly to himself and had some more sauce. Even cold, it still tasted pretty good.

* * *

Walking out of the entryway to Tseng's building Reno stopped under a streetlight and checked his watch. It was after midnight. A light misting rain had begun and Reno turned his face up towards it and sighed. It was probably too late to go back to Reeve's. He had been hoping he might be done at Tseng's with enough time to go back, but knowing the kinds of strain Reeve was under these days and the exhaustion it caused, he found it hard to believe Reeve would still be awake. And he'd feel bad to wake him up knowing he needed the sleep. Especially considering he wasn't sure how much sleep was to be had if he did. Old habits died hard. Or not at all. Not that it would be a sex thing either. He supposed at some point they have to have a proper talk about what was going on now.

Of course it would probably result in more sex though.

But that pleasant thought aside, it was funny, the strong urge to go back there, coupled with the massive dislike he felt at the idea of going back to his depressing place alone. It was almost like the feeling he'd had when they'd first started seeing each other. It was like the relationship was new all over again and it was a nice feeling. He even had a goofy grin when he thought about it. Of coarse it wasn't worth what had happened to break them apart in the first place, but still he was happy enough to have this feeling back again.

That probably had something to do with the way it had happened too. No more little hints for Reno to misunderstand, no talk of trust and past fuckups even. Miracle of miracles, Reeve had taken charge of the situation and made clear his intentions. That was the best part. And that was a totally new side of him, too. Okay, so if Reno was honest, he sort of missed the timid, mild Reeve who needed someone else to be the lay it out straight, take charge person. But he liked the take-charge change in him even more. It left no room for misinterpretation. And it was also kinda hot too.

The only little, tiny, niggling thing about the whole night had been how fast it had happened. Sure they'd sort of been dancing around each other ever since Reno had gotten back but between light flirting and heavy arguments, a large part of Reno had known that he and Reeve and what they'd had was a thing of the past, never to be repeated. And he couldn't say if that bothered him all that much. Well, that wasn't exactly true, it bothered him far more than he could stand. But being apart meant that they could be friends and that was probably better for Reeve. Or so he had thought. Actually if Reno'd been thinking at all, he would have said no. He was sure glad he hadn't been thinking, though. Being chivalrous was not a natural state for Reno and he had been tested a little too thoroughly lately and so that unnatural way of thinking only stretched so far, even where Reeve and his probable well being was concerned. Reeve had made him promise not to do exactly what he was doing now, but then he had taken back that promise too so Reno wasn't sure if he was breaking it or not. Or even whether that was supposed to be a bad thing anymore.

So being the unchivalrous bastard that he was Reno wasn't going to do anything stupid like say they shouldn't have done it, or maybe "You would be better off without me". All these things were completely true and furthermore Reeve wasn't so stupid that he didn't already know this all. Reeve knew these things and still didn't seem to care anymore and that was enough of a green light for Reno to allow himself to be a little selfish again for a little while.

The rain got a heavier and Reno lowered his face and started back off towards his place at a slow walk. He wasn't keen to get home, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep.

For the first time in a very long time, he was actually looking forward to the day ahead.

* * *

_Notes: Holy crap that was a long one and awwww who knew what a sappy bastard he was huh?. Well, we managed to get all of the pollees wishes into two chapters. We played with them for a little while longer with them almost but not quite doing anything in chapter 23 and then getting them back together in chapter 24. Thanks to all who voted, but the ones who wanted them back together won the majority. As if I didn't want that to happen anyway teehee. But hey, a little reworking of the last two chapters and I think we managed to more or less please almost everyone that voted. Yay for you. So obviously Temple of the Ancients hasn't happened yet by this chapter like I promised. And it actually wont have happened by the end of the next chapter either. I've finally decided to stop apologising for not having more game stuff in here because it's not the point and who really cares about that stuff anyway so I'm not even really going to pretend anymore. It works as a plot but little else really so screw it, whatever is happening in the game while this is all going on is only going to get small mentions from now on because I want to focus on the boys a little more. This means mainly staying in Midgar except for really important moments. Because this is an AF fic as well and how long do I let happy bliss last anyway? Well you'll have to wait and see…_

_**Please** review!_

_Kisses_

_AF_


	25. Feels Like Home

What You Do To Me

Chapter 25

Feels Like Home

Reno wasn't sure why, but he felt uneasy about Tseng leaving. As Head Turk, Tseng barely left Midgar for more than a couple of days at a time. When Tseng did go on the occasional body-guarding mission outside the Midgar, Reno went with him because if Tseng was leaving it meant that shit had really hit the fan and they needed all Turks on deck.

Of course, that was back when Solider could be relied on to take up the slack while they were gone and such wasn't the case now what with the desertions, the riots and the fact that many of the local terrorist groups had been acting up lately because of what Avalanche had done previously. Manpower was tight everywhere and that meant leaving as many Turks in Midgar as humanly possible as long as possible. This also meant that if they had to choose just one Turk to track Sephiroth, they had to send the best they had and that meant sending Tseng. He was the best at tracking people down, picking up leads and defending himself when necessary. Plus he was probably the only Turk Rufus would have agreed on to take over his place out in the field due to the import of the mission.

Reno didn't like it. He supposed he didn't have to like it, but it still sucked. Going after Sephiroth with no backup was a _bad plan_, even he could see that.

"I wish you'd stop looking like your dog just died, Reno. It's isn't very awe inspiring."

They stood side by side on the roof of the Shinra Building while the chopper was being loaded for Tseng's departure. The chopper would take Tseng and bring Rufus back. The chopper would head back out after refueling and ferry Tseng around. It was such a wasteful and stupid way of doing things, but apparently Rufus didn't want to come back to Midgar till Tseng was there to replace him.

"You should be sending me. Rufus would accept that. I'm not too shabby with this tracking people stuff either."

Tseng handed his bag to the trooper loading the chopper before giving Reno his full attention.

"In the city you are good, in the country, not so much. You need to stay in Midgar, for a lot of reasons. Rufus will be back tomorrow and you're probably the only one that can keep him in check. You're the only one he ever listens to even if he does ignore you most of the time. Besides, can you honestly tell me you want to leave Midgar now, of all times?" Tseng asked with the ghost of a smile.

It hadn't escaped Tseng's attention what had happened just before Reno had shown up on his doorstep last night. Nothing usually did. Reno had still been a little flushed, happier than usual and probably smelt like sex too. And considering that Tseng had already known that Reno had been planning to see Reeve earlier in the night, well, it didn't take a genius to figure it out. The surprising thing was that Tseng hadn't blown up about it. Reno thought he might have considering he and Reeve were friends and Reno was such a monumental fuck up. But Tseng had merely smiled, told him not to screw up this time or he'd kill him and then they'd gotten to work. Coming from Tseng that had been a rousing congratulations.

"Wild chocobos and you could only tear me away at this point," Reno told him. "Reeve would understand."

"He'd understand, that's how he is, that doesn't mean either of you would like it. But I was decided even before you showed up on my doorstep with your new glow last night. This is the only plan that makes sense."

"At least take Elena."

"When I feel I'm getting close I'll call for backup."

Reno shook his head, "You're so fucking stubborn."

Tseng smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm very touched by the concern. You have no idea how glad it makes me to see that you're capable of such a thing again. Or at all for that matter. Previously you would never have expressed such feelings toward me. I'm pleased you've forgiven me finally."

Reno shrugged, taken off guard by the sudden deep and meaningful turn to the conversation. "There's nothing to forgive. You never did anything wrong," Reno lied.

Tseng looked into his eyes for a moment before giving his shoulder a squeeze and releasing it. "I appreciate you saying so, even if you're lying. The fact that you bothered means something."

Tseng turned to go toward the chopper and Reno very sorely wanted to call him back. But there was nothing really to say. Besides, Tseng would be back soon enough and all would be right with the world once more.

Stepping off the elevator on the executive floor, Reno made sure to jam his hands in his pockets before going into the conference room. If he didn't, he'd give away his twitchy irritation. It was a rare occasion when he had to sit in for Tseng on one of the staff executive meetings, and with good reason. Reno could not be trusted at them. He couldn't just stand at the back of the room like a good lackey and keep silent when the execs droned on about whatever was of vital importance to them at this point in time. It was usually silly and stupid and made Reno want to hit people. He couldn't just phase out of the conversations like Rufus used to, either. He wasn't someone who just took things in stride, he was argumentative and brash and not very good at being submissive to the higher ups in the company.

When Reno walked in, the meeting was already underway and he was momentarily surprised to see Reeve at the head of the table.

Okay, Reno amended mentally; maybe he could be submissive to the higher ups when the mood took him. Unfortunately the thought bought a lecherous grin to his face. Reeve looked up, caught Reno's expression, and momentarily lost his place in the conversation. Reno's grin widened as Reeve tried like hell to keep his own face as blank as possible; Reeve was a terrible poker player. Fortunately, Scarlet was the only one that saw Reeve's little hiccup for what it was. She scowled deeply at Reno while Reeve got on with things.

Maybe the meeting wouldn't be so bad after all. Reno had forgotten there weren't many execs left in Midgar these days and would have expected Scarlet at the head of the table even if he had remembered. Reeve in charge was a delightful surprise.

Reno spent his time there wisely; alternatively shooting suggestive looks at Reeve trying to distract him and giving Scarlet different kinds of dirty looks. Finally it was all over and everyone got up to leave. Reno considered the event an outstanding success – he hadn't managed to take in a single detail of the entire thing.

Reno stayed standing behind his seat though, pretending to ponder some point, and was therefore easy prey for a kick from Scarlet on her way out. He rubbed his shin and thought uncomplimentary things while Reeve was busied himself with collecting papers - an obvious delaying tactic - while the others filed out.

As soon as the door shut behind the last person Reeve turned with mock annoyance and threw a pen at Reno. Reno caught it and grinned. He'd expected some sort of retaliation. "You know, for someone who got laid last night, I would have expected you'd be less tense."

"This meeting was important."

Reno sauntered round the table to where Reeve had resumed stacking papers back into his folder. Reno closed the folder and sat on it, giving Reeve nothing else to do but to look at him. "Aren't they all? You did a pretty good job; you could run this place, you know."

"I doubt that. And besides, I wouldn't want to. I can hardly keep up with my workload as a department head."

"Yeah, but the ol' pres hardly ever did anything but make a few key decisions and visit the Honeybee every other day. Doesn't sound too hard to me. Hey, even I could run this place if that's all it took."

"That's a horrifying thought," Reeve muttered trying to slide the folder out from underneath Reno.

After a few moments, Reno lifted himself up enough for Reeve to retrieve his folder. Reno watched Reeve's face closely. "I give, what did I do this time?"

Finished with packing up, Reeve set the folder aside, slid Reno off the table by his lapels and kissed him soundly. "It's not you."

Pleasantly surprised, Reno asked, "Then what's eating you today?"

Reeve rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Nothing, everything. Just a general bad mood, I guess. I'm sick of the department heads fighting, I'm sick of the whining and I'm sick of looking after a company Scarlet took over for all of a week and now tells me she has better things to do."

"Scarlet knows Rufus is coming back. She just doesn't want to take the blame in case something goes wrong."

"I'm actually looking forward to Rufus coming back," Reeve admitted.

Reno smirked. "You say that like it surprises you. Aren't you and Rufus supposed to be BFFs or something?"

"You're forgetting that I pissed him off, remember?"

"Ah, I did forget. Look he'll be back tomorrow, you have to chill."

"The meeting was doing my head in and then you waltz in like there's nothing amiss with the world at all, being very Reno-like…"

Reno decided to look confused. "I don't get if I should be apologizing or…"

"You don't need to, but it made me wonder why I was bothering trying to keep everything together because petty squabbling and meetings aren't really that important. And I'm frustrated that I can't just _chill_ out like you do."

"It's an art. Bet I can get you to relax a little," Reno challenged, getting a little closer.

"Um, not in the conference room."

"You have a dirty mind for such a straight laced guy, but that's why I dig you. No, I wasn't suggesting fucking on the conference room table, though now you've put the image in my mind…"

Reeve smiled and shook his head. "Har har."

"Did you know that the current acting Head of Administrative Research gave me a whole two hour lunch break today?"

"Isn't that you?" Reeve pointed out.

"I'm a generous department head, what can I say. And as acting Head of Shinra I'm sure you can see you way clear to give such a luxury to your Head of Urban Development, just for today."

"So in Reno speak that means you want to go back to my place for a quickie before your next assignment."

"Yeah, but you're kinda taking the fun out of it. And who said anything about being quick about it? I have absolutely nothing to do till Rude gets back. I might be acting in Tseng's position at the moment but that doesn't mean he's gonna let me touch his paperwork any time this century."

"Wow, you're bored. How romantic."

"Fine, but at least I made you smile."

Reeve's smile broadened.

"And you started this. That's twice in the last two days you've grabbed me a kissed me." Reno pointed out.

They were standing so close together now, Reno could feel the warm breath touch his face.

"Well, you didn't seem like you were going to."

"I didn't know if you might hit me again if I tried." Reno replied honestly. "Even though at times I figured it would be worth it."

Reeve watched him for a few moments more, a faint smile still on his face. "Two hours?"

"At the very least."

* * *

They at least managed to make it into the bedroom this time, but while the comfort factor was definitely better, it made leaving again more of a chore. Reno hadn't been laid in this bed for more than a year. And before his forced vacation in Costa, this had been his home away from home. Actually this had been more his home than his own apartment. He'd practically lived here. Reeve hadn't much liked Reno's dinky little apartment any more than Reno did and so they'd spent almost all of their together time here as a result. He liked Reeve's place, it smelled like Reeve, it had Reeve's taste and style and though it held next to nothing of Reno's own stuff here, it still felt more like home to him than anywhere else ever had.

He hadn't realized how crushed he'd been when he'd come in one day to find another person in his home, in his bed, with his, well, Reeve.

"I think I'm in love with your apartment." Reno told Reeve. He was lying on his back staring up at the ceiling, Reeve next to him doing the same. They were both were recovering.

With amusement evident in his voice, Reeve eventually replied. "You know I miss these odd comments you make after sex. It's almost like your brain died," Reeve finished with mock wonderment.

"I'm serious. I feel like I'm home."

"I get it, you're just sleeping with me to get closer to the apartment."

"I may be."

Reeve hit him with a pillow.

"I'm glad you didn't move." Reno said after dragging the pillow off his face. He didn't have to say why he suspected Reeve might have moved.

"There are more good memories here than there are bad."

Reno didn't ask what he wanted to. It wasn't the moment for it. They'd resolved a lot of things, but fighting might not be totally out of the equation yet.

"True. On every piece of furniture in every room too if I recall correctly, Reno said instead.

"Almost. Though I doubt either of us had the skills or flexibility to properly utilize the linen cupboard."

"Give me time."

Reeve let out a long breath in the silence that followed. He seemed to be thinking quite deeply about something. The he said, "You'd have more time to try if you just moved in."

Reno hadn't been expecting that. A small panicky part of his brain rebelled at the thought. He thought that if he moved in and went crazy again he might do something unthinkable. But then a calmer, darker part of his mind reminded Reno that he didn't need to be living here for that to happen. He'd just break in like he did last time.

Well maybe the fight was inevitable after all, might as well get it over with. "Are you sure you should be trusting me that much?" Reno asked.

"Are you telling me I shouldn't?"

"I don't know."

Reeve rolled onto his side and propped his head up with his hand so he could look at Reno's face. Reno's eyes slid over to his and stayed there. Reno actually looked a little worried.

"Do you want to hurt me?"

Reno's expression crumpled. "Gods, no."

This was more vulnerable emotion than Reeve usually saw from Reno. It was strange, but oddly comforting that the very idea of what he did so obviously upset him.

"What if you were ordered to?"

"No." Reno said straight away. "Though I may try to kill the idiot who gave me the order."

"Then why are you afraid you'd ever do it again?"

"Why aren't you?"

Reeve seemed to think about that for a moment. "You're a different person now. Not greatly, you've still got that sense of humor, you've still got a dirty mind and you're still annoying beyond belief sometimes. But you seem to care about people now like you never use to. Probably nobody would notice but those of us that were close to you before. I'm not saying that you never cared about me, but I think you understand how and why a little better than you used to. Life doesn't seem to be the ordeal you used to treat it like before. I think before you confused the difference between who you ought to be loyal to for caring for something or someone and I think that confusion lead to what happened to you. You tried to be loyal to Shinra and the Turks even though deep down you didn't really think they deserved it. And I think that confused the feelings you were having about me too. But you don't seem to be striving for that same feeling anymore and you're paying more attention to people rather than what they should stand for."

"You think that this all boils down to job dissatisfaction?" Reno asked, bewildered.

Reeve smiled down at him. "I don't think you were ever satisfied with your job. You just don't seem to care that you aren't anymore instead of trying to convince yourself that you should be just because you happened to be very good at it."

Reno took a moment to sort out what Reeve was saying and let it sink in. He didn't really think he was any different than before, except for the obvious less homicidal factor. But something in what Reeve had said made sense to him.

"I think I used to hate Tseng," Reno said before he could stop himself. "I never knew I did at the time, I sure don't anymore, so I didn't stop to analyze why. But I think I really hated him way deep down."

"Why?" Reeve asked with honest surprise.

"Like I said, I don't hate him anymore, but back then I think it was because he was the reason I became a Turk. I didn't want to join at first, but I realized I was really good at it and he seemed to need me at the time. I've always felt that my life was out of my control. Because I was good at the seedier jobs in life, people always seemed to want me to do them. It made me feel better knowing that people thought I was useful and talented at something. So I let that feeling lull me into doing things I'm not sure I really wanted to do. Tarran told me in Junon that I always end up with whoever has the most use for me rather than through any decision I made to be there. I used to like being a Turk, being good at my job, but maybe now, it's more like I'm going through the motions."

Whatever direction Reeve though this conversation was going to take, this obviously wasn't it. Reno would never have confessed this sort of thing to him before and Reeve was a little taken back. "You're going to quit, aren't you?" he realized.

"Probably would have before now if you hadn't gone and got all that Shinra machinery installed in your brain. I'm not blaming you, but I couldn't leave you like that."

Reeve smiled a little at that. Here he'd been nursing this hatred about Reno leaving him in that state a year ago to sort through things by himself and he'd never realized this new improved Reno had stayed because of his, Reno's, personal want to look after him just like Reeve had wanted him to before.

"I can't leave you at all, as it turns out. So I guess until you've had enough, I can be content enough to stay." Reno snorted. "I guess I've finally chosen a path for myself and that will make it all the easier to want to be here, doing the job I have."

"Aren't you afraid you're falling into old habits and being here with me just because I have a use for you?" Reeve asked with a grin.

"People only ever use me for things that I'm good at. And I know for damn sure I'm not very at relationships and I doubt that's going to change any time soon. So no, doesn't really scare me."

"So," Reeve began, "does this mean you're moving in?"

"Give it a week. If you haven't decked me again by then I'll certainly consider it. Don't you care anymore that people might find out your screwing one of you underlings?"

Reeve lay back with a smile. "The Turks aren't really my underlings."

"Not directly, no. But if you give me an order, and it doesn't contradict anything I've already been told to do, I have to obey it."

"So can I order you to move in?"

Reno laughed. "I think that's sexual harassment."

"So I can't order you to do anything of a sexual or personal nature? Kind of takes the fun out of really."

"I didn't say you couldn't do it, just that it was my choice to refuse or obey. You should certainly explore that idea a little more." Reno told him trying to keep the eagerness and hope out of his voice. Reeve was never really a verbally out spoken person when it came to sex, though he could take control through action as Reno had seen first hand last night. Getting Reeve to ask for certain things seemed painfully embarrassing to him, much to Reno's disappointment.

And sure enough, Reeve's cheeks did color a bit as he let that mental visual present itself to him. Really, Reno should have had enough kink in his life to do him ten times over his years, but the idea of a just that little, tiny bit of kink with someone he cared about and trusted was actually more of a turn on than all the leather wearing and toy wielding serious type perverts could ever do now. Perhaps he was getting old and a wee bit boring.

"Maybe later," Reeve told him.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Why should I really care?"

"Good point, seeing as the big bad boss is actually Rufus now and he knew about us last time and didn't seem to give two shits."

Actually Reno wondered if Rufus would be as insouciant as he imagined. He'd never had a problem with them before, why should he now? But something gave Reno the impression and he couldn't remember what. Oh well, they'd probably find out eventually.

Beside him, Reeve stretched and groaned a little. "Is our time up?"

Reno checked his watch. "Two hours finished about half an hour ago, actually. Not that it matters to me, Rude hasn't checked in yet so I've got nothing to do anyway."

Reeve sat up very quickly when Reno told him they'd gone over time but he didn't from his sitting position. He was probably calculating how much work he still had to do at the office. Reno realized his guess was wrong when the silence stretched and Reeve still didn't move. He must have been checking on Cait.

This surprised Reno a lot. Reeve was so caught up in his Shinra work Reno had once threatened to throw his computer out the window if he didn't stop working and come to bed. There seemed to be very little on this earth that could make Reeve slack off in his job. Reno was happy to admit that he was one of them, though even he couldn't always entice Reeve away from his responsibilities.

Now it seemed the escapades of Avalanche were more of interest to Reeve than reactors and city planning. Sure, Cait was a part of Reeve's job too, but the whole reason Reeve was such a workaholic wasn't just because he was a dutiful worker, it was because he enjoyed what he did. Not the Shinra part necessarily, but he enjoyed planning, designing and building things. But apparently he also enjoyed hanging out with Avalanche, too. Maybe more. Which was a little worrying.

Still, Reno wasn't about to dwell on it. Instead, he decided to use this to his advantage. He moved behind Reeve and kissed his way up Reeve's spine till he was kneeling behind him and rested his chin on Reeve's shoulder. "If you're not using your body at the moment, can I?"

Reeve laughed and leant back against him. "You know I can still feel it when you do that."

"Yeah I know, we've played with this before, remember? You were trying to get me to kiss you."

"Didn't work."

"Did this time. So what did you have to check in for? Something happening?"

"Needed to see how close to the Gold Saucer we are. Should be there by the day after tomorrow in the afternoon sometime. Is everything…um, set? I don't want to get caught, but I have a bad feeling that this isn't going to be easy to steal."

"That's what I'm waiting on Rude for – he's watching the house now to make sure everyone will be home tonight. That place is so isolated nobody should see us snatch the kid and her keeper. We'll take them tonight by helicopter to a safe house we have in Kalm where a couple of troopers can look after them. They'll have a radio. Tseng's waiting on the call to make the pickup at the Gold Saucer with Cait and if you get caught we'll have little whatshername Wallace on the air to convince them to let you stay."

Reeve sighed. "I feel like…"

"A Turk?"

"Like I'm the bad guy."

"Same diff. Look, you were the one who wanted to stay in Club Goody Two Shoes. I would've been happy enough to let you off the hook after you steal the key."

"And would Rufus have been happy enough?"

"Perhaps. If your cover gets blown it gets blown, it happens. He doesn't know what we're plotting, so you can still ditch the kidnapping idea if you want."

"I want to stay." Reeve replied firmly.

"Why?"

"I think I can be of use," Reeve replied carefully. Careful that he didn't say exactly whom he hoped he would be of use to.

Reno decided not to question him further because he had his doubts about what Reeve's answer would be. As close as they were, Reeve would probably lie if he didn't think his answer would sit well with Reno. Not that he thought Reeve was making a decision to be a traitor or anything, but he wouldn't find it hard to believe that Reeve would be interested in these people.

Reeve wasn't an evil man by nature and working for Shinra should have gone against his moral grain. But immoral business dealings going on around him was probably not a new concept considering his family background. However, Reeve's time of just simply putting up with it was obviously starting to come to a close and these other people he was watching lived lives he had never really seen lived from his, let's face it, reasonably sheltered rich kid life. It had to be fascinating for him.

Interesting that when Reno had informed Reeve he was late getting back to work his first thought had been for Cait and not his beloved paperwork. Though to be fair, it wasn't like Reeve was about to run off and join them. Being a pretend good guy was one thing; but whether Reeve was just sticking around for his own reasons or not, it didn't mean that he even fully understood what those reasons were. Reno was confident that if Reeve were planning something traitorous he would admit it. He knew Reno wouldn't betray him. If he lied, it just meant that he wanted to pretend a little more, just perhaps not for the good of Shinra and Reeve would be embarrassed to try and explain why.

So to Reno, it wasn't an issue. If it made Reeve feel better to stick with Avalanche, so be it. What could it really hurt in the end? So he didn't push it. And the fact that Reno wasn't pushing didn't seem lost on Reeve either as Reno not so deftly changed the subject.

"So, aren't you worried about getting back to work?"

"Trying to get away from me?"

"Not hardly," Reno answered placing a kiss on the side of Reeve's neck to prove his point. "I'm flattered though a little weirded out by your lack of work ethic, that's all. It's just so un-Reeve of you."

"Weren't you the one that used to tell me to relax a little more often? Don't you like me being un-Reeve?"

"Hey, it's actually the Reeve parts of you that I love. Your first class ass only provokes lust, ya know."

Reno realized it as soon as he'd said it that this was perhaps the first time he'd admitted to the 'L' word since inappropriately blurting it out in Junon that time. And he actually winced a little afterwards. Not because he didn't mean it, but there was a large part of him that still couldn't get into the whole love romance ideal. To Reno it was a concept fit only for soft people with knit sweaters. Actually Reeve owned a few knit sweaters, he recalled.

His one hope that it had just flown over Reeve's head was dashed when Reeve took in a sharp almost inaudible breath and went a little quiet.

As much in love as he knew he was, Reno didn't want to have _the_ conversation. And even if Reeve seemed to be tactfully aware of this and continued to say nothing, the silence dragged on a little uncomfortably and Reno gave in.

"Go on, say it."

"You said you loved me," Reeve teased.

"Oh, hell."

"How much do you love me?"

"Can't we just fuck again?"

Reeve laughed. "You know I could've decked you in Junon for saying that. I would've given my right arm for you to have told me that when we were actually together."

"Seriously, I'll do anything you want me to do. Anything."

"That's nothing new."

Reno thought about that for a moment. "Okay, that's true. What if I clean your apartment instead?"

"Just admit it, you're completely and utterly in love with me."

Reno sighed. "I am."

"Say it."

Instead Reno wrapped his arms around Reeve so he couldn't move and bit his shoulder, hard enough to leave a mark.

Reeve flinched, "Fuck, that hurt."

Reno grinned, Reeve didn't have any malice in his voice about it. It was just a statement. Early on Reno had discovered that considering Reeve's current lifestyle he had a pretty good tolerance to pain. In the past Reeve had gone off the work with many a set of teeth marks on his skin in various places hidden underneath his suit that Reno had left on him. It had been a huge turn on for Reno to know those bites were there, that'd he'd left them there where nobody else could see. He had been hoping that the subtle little reminder would change to course of the conversation a little.

"You think that'll make me stop teasing you?" Reeve asked, but with a changed note in his voice. He could tell it was working.

So he didn't answer and bit him again the same spot. Unfortunately Reno was a little too enthusiastic and drew a little bit of blood. He hadn't meant to do that. Reeve gasped and Reno froze, though he couldn't understand why at first. His mind just had a little blank moment when he saw Reeve's blood.

Reeve hadn't noticed and snaked a hand in between them and was obviously a little confused at the lack of direction. He turned his head to look back at Reno and saw the horrified expression.

"What's wrong?"

Reno blinked a few times. "What?"

"What's wrong?"

"I uh, um, sorry."

"What for?"

A little trickle of blood had started to make its slow way down Reeve's back and without thinking Reno leant down and licked it away. Reeve realized then that he had been bleeding but was still puzzeled. It's not like it was the first time; Reno had often gotten just a little too enthusiastic about things in the past and generally in hadn't bothered either of them much.

A new drop formed and Reno licked that one away, too.

Reno seemed to come back to himself a little then and realized just where someone's hand was and moved into the touch. Since Reeve was looking back at him, Reno took the opportunity to move in to steal a kiss and trail from that kiss down Reeve's neck and back to his shoulder again where he gave the wound there a little suck to get rid of the last of the blood from the already closing wound.

"Okay," Reeve said a little breathlessly, "I'll stop teasing you now."

Reno got the call from Rude more than an hour later and left to meet up with him and plan strategy. It was mid afternoon now and Reno wouldn't be done with his assignment till late tonight or more probably early tomorrow morning after returning from Kalm. Avalanche would eventually reach the Gold Saucer, and hopefully sometime that night Reeve – or more precisely, Cait - would steal the key to the Temple of the Ancients and contact Tseng to make the drop. The timing was working perfectly for them, but Reeve just couldn't raise even the faintest joy about it all.

He'd orchestrated a kidnapping, for one thing. It was a personal all time low for Reeve and he didn't feel very good about it. In some ways, Reno was right, the slums at the moment were not a safe place to be. Well, less so than usual. Neither kidnap victims would be harmed during the whole episode and would both be kept together and away from the violence of Midgar for the duration of the crisis. Reeve wished he could convince himself that these were all good things. And they kind of were, but it wasn't like he was doing it for the right reasons. He figured that was his problem.

No matter how well he ordered them treated, no matter how much safer they would be kept in Kalm, Reeve was still doing this to hold them as hostages against the people who loved them. They would be used so Reeve could play the hero for just a little while longer. At least Rufus would be pleased he'd thought of this backup plan, even if he never got to use it. But then again, the odds of Reeve telling Rufus he had Barrett Wallace's daughter were pretty slim. He wasn't sure if he could protect them properly if he told Rufus about them.

Not being able to trust Rufus anymore was also getting to him. Ever since Rufus ordered him to do this spying, Reeve just had the feeling that they just weren't that close anymore. Actually, it was pretty much the time Rufus took over the company. Reeve sort of missed Rufus and it bothered him that even if Rufus did come back to Midgar, he'd only be happy to see him because it meant he wouldn't have to look after the running of the company anymore.

If Reno hadn't been here, Reeve didn't know what he would have been able to do. Rufus wasn't much comfort to talk to these days, Tseng was out of Midgar on assignment and most of his department was busy with two reactors being offline still from the terrorist attacks.

After Reno left his place Reeve stayed at home, not bothering to rush back to the office to tackle the huge amount of work that had to be done. But the waiting work eventually got to him and finally he roused himself enough to get dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and wander back to work. It was late afternoon by this point, after quitting time for most and Reeve didn't much care for the idea of having to put his suit back on just to go and sit at his desk.

Reeve ran into Scarlet in the elevator on his way up to his office. Apparently she had just come back from an errand.

She eyed his clothes for a moment and gave him a smirk. "What happened to you all afternoon?"

Of all the people he wished were in Midgar with him right now, Scarlet was not one of them.

"Had some things to do," he answered vaguely.

Scarlet wasn't one for subtlety, though. "I'll bet. Though I doubt your little fuck toy would appreciate being called a 'thing'."

Well if Scarlet didn't want to dance around it, neither would he. "He's been called worse, I'll bet."

She hadn't been expecting the admission and it seemed to take the pleasure out of it for her. For a little while at least.

"You know I saw him eye fucking you in the meeting this morning. I would've thought you'd have had your fill of him the last time."

Reeve matched her smirk. "If you'd had the pleasure, you'd know how absurd that statement was."

He seemed to have hit a sore spot with that last comment. He hadn't been aiming for it; Reeve hadn't even known it was there.

"Oh, yeah, and how do you know that I haven't, exactly? Told you. did he? You know what a little liar he is."

Reeve decided not to tell Scarlet that Reno actually looked on his not ever being so desperate as to sleep with Scarlet as a kind of badge of honor. He may not like Scarlet very much, but he didn't really want to openly provoke her either.

"You know, Reeve, you could do so much better than him, anyway." She continued, taking his silence to wrongly mean that he agreed with her.

Reeve didn't really know what to think. In the past she had made passes at him, sometimes even quite aggressive ones, but not half minute ago she seemed pissed that he'd been with Reno. Maybe he'd read her wrong, maybe she was still interested in him and was just pissed she'd found out he'd gone back to Reno. Maybe she was jealous of Reno, not him, after all.

Still, he couldn't understand her interest. If Scarlet had a type, Reeve was pretty sure it wasn't him.

"Depends what your definition of better is."

Scarlet actually smiled. "You're a lot more fun after a good fuck it seems. You should do it more often. And take pictures."

Okay, so she was interested in both of them. Mystery solved. And ew.

"You know," she continued, leaning back against the wall of the elevator, "I dabble in photography. You should let me know if you ever need a hand."

"I'll keep that in mind," Reeve told her, trying very hard not to sound as insincere as he felt.

Luckily, the elevator reached his floor, sparing him from Scarlet for too much longer. She gave him a languid wave as the doors closed behind him.

Reeve stared at the closed doors for a moment before saying, "Holy fuck."

* * *

_Notes: I ummed and ahhed about a lot of this chapter. I didn't want them to spend practically the entire chapter in bed talking about stuff cause I know that can get dull, but I figured in the end it needed to be sorted sooner rather than later so we can finally stop dwelling on it at all. I especially was tempted to cut the Scarlet scene because it seemed so wrong in so many different ways. But really, I started to do some things with her and Rufus way back in part one and two that never got resolved and though I warn that stuff has the distinct possibility to get a little stupid I'm still gonna run with it and see where it takes me. On another note, I'm loving that they are back together, I missed writing this sort of stuff and you might or might not have noticed there might be a little more touchy feely physically than the norm because the fic has been without it for so long and I purely need to get it out of my system. So enjoy._

_Love_

_AF_


	26. Not So Welcome Home Rufus

What You Do To Me

Chapter 26

Not So Welcome Home Rufus

Rufus stepped off the chopper and took in a big lungful of heavily polluted air like it was fresh from the mountains. He managed to hold it in without coughing, too. This was his hometown air and the smell, the almost thickness of it was comforting to him. As much as he knew he needed to be seen in the field, he was happy to be back. Here he wasn't chasing shadows, here he was never lost and here he felt in charge again.

The lack of greeting on the helipad was a little deflating though. Usually Tseng or Reno would come up to greet him after he'd been away for a while. And of course while Rufus knew Tseng couldn't be here he'd expected to see Reno at least.

Oh well, Reno could just buy him a drink later to make up for it.

While he was getting his pack out of the chopper Rufus heard the roof door open and looked around expectantly. Reeve was striding toward him, looking thoughtful. Well, at least one of his friends had shown up.

"Anything explode while I was gone?" Rufus said by way of greeting when Reeve was close enough.

"Not that I've noticed."

They started back the way Reeve had come. "Seen much of Reno?"

Reeve's expression gave Rufus the impression that he was trying very hard to keep his face blank. "Not really. I think he's been prepping a mission with Rude, but I don't really know the particulars."

"Oh?" Rufus responded with a tone that added another tone of, 'what, a mission without my say so?' "And where's Scarlet, she should have seen me as soon as I touched down to give me the handover."

"Ah, Scarlet had important work to do, so I've been sort of taking care of things lately."

Rufus arched an eyebrow. "Right. That wasn't really Scarlet's decision. Not that I don't think you're skilled enough Reeve, but you have had other things to concentrate on and I didn't want you having to do three jobs all on your own. Speaking of our little spy, anything new to report?"

"Tseng successfully got the key to the ancient temple from Avalanche. Avalanche are heading after him now. He has a great head start, though, and better transportation. He should beat us there by days. We have very good reason to believe that Sephiroth is heading there next."

"But you're not certain?"

"Not entirely, but pretty positive."

"I might just wait to hear from Tseng before I send in the cavalry," Rufus decided after a moment. "At this point it might do Tseng's mission more harm than good to have half an army of troopers crashing through the jungle after him. You've been making your reports to Reno?"

"Yes," Reeve replied.

"Good, we'll keep doing that but I want to be in on them from now on. Either that or I want Reno to give me daily updates…fuck this, I should be telling this to Reno. Where the fuck is he anyway?"

"In his office probably."

"Have you seen him today yet?"

For some reason Reeve had to think that over for a second. "No."

"Good send him up afterwards will you?"

"Sure."

* * *

"Were you supposed to meet Rufus or something? He seemed a bit pissed that you weren't there."

"Usually I'll go meet him so we can bunk off somewhere for the rest of the day and have a drink. Of course that was before he was President, I was acting Tseng, and let's not forget, before I was so monumentally pissed at him for what he did to you."

Reeve raised an eyebrow at the angry Turk pacing in his office. "What did he do to me?"

"I see the invasive brain surgery hasn't improved your memory any."

"Oh that. It wasn't like I refused and he forced me." Reeve pointed out.

"Oh, sure, and I suppose you felt that had you said no your job wasn't somehow on the line, either?"

"He never said such a thing."

"Yeah, but I bet he implied its ass off."

"Look, you can't be angry at him about that."

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because that will imply that you might care a little too much about my well being for his liking." Reeve said carefully.

Reno stopped pacing to stare at Reeve. "What, where is this coming from? Thought you didn't care if Rufus knew about us."

"I've been thinking about that, actually. Rufus wasn't too happy before with how things ended between us. I don't want him to think…"

"That you're making the same mistakes all over again?" Reno finished for him.

"Hey, that's not what I mean and you know it. I'm simply saying that Rufus could very well see it that way, that's all. I mean take personal feelings out of the equation entirely and you can see that for Rufus, considering past problems, he'd _have _to have issue with this."

"Alright, fine. You're probably right but it makes no real difference. Rufus knows I still have feelings for you despite where that might get me. He knows anything to do with you I'm emotionally retarded with so even if I do lose my nut at him, he's not really going to be any the wiser about our extra curriculars."

"Really? Emotionally retarded even?" Reeve asked with a sudden smile.

"What can I say, that's what you do to me. I'm a little over protective."

"You know, I'd probably be really touched if I didn't just suddenly feel like the damsel in this little fairytale."

"Yeah, well, don't be. If this were a fairytale the damsel would be dead by now cause I'm obviously pretty shit at trying to save you from anything. Ever. Most of the time you manage to save yourself."

"Good, that makes me feel a lot more manly," Reeve told him sarcastically.

* * *

Reno didn't bother knocking. He had never knocked when Rufus had been Vice-President and the way he saw it, accident of birth and further premeditation of Sephiroth didn't give you the automatic right of being shown respect. That had to be earned.

He let himself into the big office and slammed the door behind him roughly. The Presidential office had no chairs for visitors. Any visitors had to stand in front of the President's desk as though everyone in the world was supposed to feel subordinate to the President. All that meant for Reno was that he sat on the desk instead.

"So is the stick they give you at the inauguration to shove up your own asshole bigger or smaller than you expected?"

"Very funny. Reno, get off the desk."

"Make me."

"Sounds like you're the one with something up their ass today. Not even a 'hi how are you' or 'let's go get a drink' from you this morning."

"You wanna know what's up my ass?"

"Do tell," Rufus said, leaning back in his opulent leather chair.

"You are."

Rufus raised an eyebrow at him. "I hope that wasn't an invitation."

"Yeah, that didn't come out right, but you get my drift."

"Gee, could you possibly be annoyed about something? Are we going to have the 'you have no emotional rights over what Reeve does in his life anymore' speech? 'Cause I could have sworn you heard me the first time."

It didn't surprise him that Rufus knew exactly what he was here to bitch at him about. Reno wasn't a man with a lot of hobbies. Drinking, smoking, drinking, obsessing over Reeve, drinking. And not necessarily in that order.

"So?" Reno countered. "You have no medical rights to use his brain for your sick little experiments, either. We haven't done that speech yet, but today you're in luck 'cause I've been rehearsing."

"You're like a migraine making machine. Can't we just skip this and go out for a drink like usual?"

"You really think I'm joking around, don't you? You're thinking 'here's Reno doing his funny little pissed off act just to get on my nerves'. Well, I'm not joking around, Rufus." Reno slammed his hand down on the polished desk. "You didn't see Reeve after the surgery, he looked like a corpse."

Reno gave into the need for movement and slid off the desk to pace around. "You keep going on about how I hurt him, well congratulations, Rufus, you've just joined the 'I cracked Reeve's head open for no good reason' Club. At least I was insane at the time, what's your excuse?"

He paced a few more steps. "Were you upset that he fucked around with your speech? Yeah, I heard it and I knew instantly that you never wrote a word of what he said. Reeve's speech had a little too much heart in it to come from your devious little brain. At least I hurt him cause my deranged little mind couldn't get around the fact that I was in love with him. You hurt him for revenge about some stupid little speech that probably did more good for Shinra's image that yours ever would have."

Reno took a deep breath and glared at his boss. "You actually disgust me. Do you know how difficult that is? And no, we can't go for a drink because as your Turk I fear for your life going out with little backup tonight of all nights. But that's probably just because if you do go out tonight with only me as backup, you'll have nobody to stop me from murdering you."

Deep down Rufus must have known that Reno was seriously upset about what happened with Reeve, but he still tried to act like it was just one of their play fights. "I should invite Rude then too?"

"Fuck you Rufus."

"So it _was_ an invitation, then?"

Reno slammed the door behind him on his way out.

* * *

"Hello, Mr President," Scarlet cooed when she came back into her office to find Rufus draped into one of her visitor's chairs.

"If you had even an iota of respect in your voice when you said that, I might have been pleased."

"If you came to visit me more often, like you, used to then I might have humored you a little more. What can I do for you Rufus?"

"I expected to see you this morning for the handover. Instead I find Reeve doing it instead. Care to explain?"

"I have several very _necessary_ projects going on at the moment. All in the greater glory of Shinra and helping against Sephiroth, I might add. Reeve was doing very little of any great importance that I could see. I know he was in hospital for a little while for some minor thing or other, but there's no need to coddle the man. He looks perfectly healthy to me. He did an adequate job didn't he?"

Of course Scarlet didn't know about Reeve's spy. Rufus supposed she'd have to know eventually, but he didn't feel like getting into it just this minute.

"Reeve's work ethic is hardly the issue here, yours is. I give you an order, Scarlet, I expect it to be obeyed. If for any reason you feel like you need your focus somewhere else you ask me."

Scarlet looked a little puzzled by Rufus's attitude. "How can you be that upset? It's not like I left Palmer in charge. Besides I half expected Reeve would be filling in as Vice President till you were able to fill the role with your own family. If you ever manage to pick out one woman you could actually stand to be around for more than an hour or two."

"Maybe I should marry you then." Rufus joked without much amusement in his voice.

Scarlet laughed. "Oh Rufus, you can't stand me most of the time either, admit it."

She had a point though, he'd never considered who might fill his old role in the company. Candidates were a little on the thin side. The only people he really trusted to run the company properly while he was away were Scarlet and Reeve and even then sometimes they could be a little iffy. Scarlet because as she previously demonstrated, could get easily distracted by anything to do with her real work with weapons. And Reeve because, as also demonstrated, he wasn't terribly brilliant at following direct orders, either.

"The point, Scarlet, is that you wouldn't have gone against my father like that. I don't expect any different treatment now."

"Okay," Scarlet replied, sounding chastised. "I'll keep that in mind. I suppose your worries aren't completely unfounded. I'm all for afternoon delight, but disappearing with an underling for almost the entire afternoon after the meeting the other day was a little out of character for him. Perhaps the power has gone to his head." Scarlet shrugged. "Still Reeve did come back in that night to work so I suppose he wasn't completely shirking his responsibilities."

"Wait, what? What underling?"

"Oh? I thought that must have been the reason you were annoyed at him. I figured somebody must have told you. After all surely I wasn't the only one that witnessed Reno's all too suggestive looks in the meeting."

Rufus rolled his eyes. "I hardly doubt that means they dashed off for a quickie, Scarlet. Reno has done that to me in meetings just to throw me off my game before."

"True, but I guess you had to be there. Besides, he more or less admitted as much to me later that night when he was coming back into work. He had a right healthy glow about him. I have to say, getting laid certainly agrees with him."

That was the thing about Scarlet, she was always the one with the gossip. She may not have acted like the most intelligent person in the world sometimes, but she could read people like a book. And because she could do that, people tended to open up to her and tell her things they'd normally keep to themselves. Still, Scarlet did sometimes get her dirt by annoying people 'til they'd tell her anything just to wind her up and get her to stop badgering them,, so it was entirely possible Reeve had just told her what she wanted to hear just to shut her up.

But if that was the case, why did Rufus suddenly feel a little nauseous? It was actually the same kind of feeling he'd had during his conversation with Reno earlier.

_At least I hurt him 'cause my deranged little mind couldn't get around the fact that I was in love with him._

Scarlet sighed a fluttery sort of sigh, still apparently lost in her own little world of post sex Reeve glow.

"I hate this," Scarlet lamented, "I know he likes women. The only woman in the company he's ever fucked and she's some homely little nothing who's about as interesting as wet cardboard. Maybe he doesn't like aiming above his station or something. I've given enough hints for him to consider me."

This was nothing Rufus hadn't heard before; Scarlet always told him the juicy stuff first. What Scarlet didn't know, and what Rufus had worked out for himself given the timing Scarlet gave him and Reno's mood afterwards, was that Reno himself had walked in on them afterwards. Rufus also remembered that at the time he'd found out he'd thought, 'good, maybe the obsession will finally stop.' Of course maybe it had. He was still far from believing Scarlet's version of events.

"You only want him because of his complete disinterest, Scarlet. If you'd manage to get him into bed when you first tried you would have been over him before the night was over."

"I know, perplexing isn't it? Everything tells me he's not my type. He's so reserved, such a straight arrow that I bet he was boring in bed, no fun and an absolute bore to talk to. But then Reno finds him so intoxicating I can't help but feel I'm missing something. After all I've heard some stories about Reno in the past that make me feel positively chaste in comparison."

"Well, you know what they say, when all else fails, get them drunk."

"He doesn't get drunk at work functions," Scarlet replied as though she'd already had that idea. "Honestly, if only you'd let me join you for one of your boys only evenings once in a while I'd have a better chance."

"It's not strictly boys only. I know Elena goes out with them now. I just felt it would be more pleasant without Tseng and Reno trying to strangle you every few minutes."

"That new Turk of Reno's?" Scarlet asked with a sour twist to her mouth. "Boretastic."

"Oh I don't know, there's something about a woman that could kick my ass that I find appealing."

"Rufus, streetwalkers could kick your ass."

"Don't be rude or I won't invite you on our next night out."

"You mean I get to be one of the 'in' crowd," Scarlet gasped with mock delight. "Be still my heart."

"Do you want to come or not?"

"Yes, I want to come," Scarlet told him.

"Good, I want your opinion on something."

Scarlet smiled. "Never fear, I'll watch our boys. I'll know if something is going on or not before the end of the first round."

* * *

"If I'd known that pig fucker had organised this, I never would have come," Reno grumbled into his glass.

Rude rolled his eyes at Reeve, who tried his best not to smile at Reno's discomfort. It had been a while since the group of them had gone out for a drink and so when Rude had suggested it, the four of them had left work and made for their favourite bar in sector 8. Of course then once they'd gotten here and Rude made a comment about Rufus being late, they had all found out if had been Rufus' idea and Reno had not been pleased. He was obviously still very pissed at Rufus, but that fact that Reeve wasn't pissed at their boss seemed to calm him a little. After all, it was Reeve's brain that had been messed with.

"Being nice for a couple of hours won't kill you," Rude told him.

"It's not me I'm thinking will be doing the dying," Reno replied.

Reeve sighed. "You know how we were talking about me giving you orders and you having to obey them? Well, be civil, that's an order."

Reno gave Reeve a sideways look. "That's not exactly what I had in mind when I told you to explore the possibilities of that idea."

"So, does being civil contradict any orders given to you by anyone else?"

"Only my own."

"Yeah well, my authority supersedes yours. Behave."

Reno finished his drink in one gulp. "Fine. But you owe me."

"I don 't think that's how the chain of command works."

"With Reno it does," Rude added. "Tseng usually has to bribe him to get him to do something he doesn't want to do. It drives him spare."

Elena came back to the table with the round and set four glasses onto the table with a minimal of spills. "I don't see why I have to fetch every round."

"I explained this to you. You're the newbie, you fetch the drinks. Everybody has their jobs." Reno explained.

"Really," Elena said, unconvinced, as she plopped down into a chair on the other side of the table. "And what does Rude have to do?"

"As acting second in command Rude has to carry me home when I can't walk anymore."

"And Reeve?"

"Reeve's the boss. Apparently. He gets to sit there and look pretty."

"Hey, Reeve, wanna swap? I can sit there and look pretty."

"You're not pretty enough," Reno told her before Reeve could comment.

"You're so mean. No wonder you're still single."

Reeve started laughing, even Rude grinned.

"Did I miss something?" Rufus had come in without their noticing and sat down next to Elena. Having her boss next to her quietened Elena down immediately, to Reno's personal relief. But that was relief short lived when Scarlet sat down at the end of the table adjacent to Rufus and Reeve.

Reno was both shocked and disgusted by this turn of events. Disgusted because that was his default emotion around Scarlet and shocked because she was a) here and b) had apparently dressed down for the occasion somewhat. For once she wasn't plastered in makeup, wasn't wearing her stand out anywhere brand of dress and wasn't draped in her usual array of jewellery. Scarlet was wearing what appeared to be jeans, albeit tight ones and a simple enough buttoned up shirt that while emphasised her cleavage with the top buttons undone, managed to make it look like she wasn't trying to. For once she looked normal and Reno realised that Scarlet was actually a very beautiful woman when she wasn't trying too hard. Of course this didn't mean she wasn't still a bile inducing horrid bitch but at least the view was a little better than usual.

"Holy shit, Scarlet, I didn't know you had skin at all underneath the layers of concrete you put on your face every day."

"It's the reason I still have very beautiful skin thank you very much Reno. I've had many a compliment for it by the special few that are allowed to touch it. Not that you would know."

"Just goes to show what some guys will say just to get their dick wet isn't it?"

Elena was looking back and forward between her bosses apparently trying to work out if they were fighting or just kidding around. She found that Reno often said rather nasty things to people as a form of play but this seemed a little more hostile than she was used to.

A glance at Rude, who seemed desperately trying not to smile again, and then Elena turned to Reeve, who had just closed his eyes and was shaking his head a little. Whether it was from exasperation or humour she couldn't really tell.

"Ignore the children my dear," Rufus told her after a moment. "They'll bicker forever if they think they have an audience. Now who would like to hear an interesting story?"

And so the night began. From Elena's perspective it was a very weird experience. Reno seemed to be pissed off with both Scarlet and Rufus; Rufus was trying his hardest to keep Reno talking to him, and Scarlet was talking Reeve's ear off about something Elena couldn't hear. Reeve didn't look very happy about this but was putting on a brave face. Rude was generally just sitting back and listening to either Reno or Rufus talk with apparently little interest and every now and then giving Elena a look that told her he was finding this just as uncomfortable as she was. Whenever Reno and Reeve managed to exchange a few words with each other Scarlet would watch them like a hawk, which was a little unnerving too.

Elena didn't like Scarlet. It probably had more to do with Reno's influence more than anything else, but there was just something undeniably off putting about the woman that Elena couldn't really understand. She was just wrong. And she felt increasingly bad for Reeve who was looking more and more put upon as the night wore on. Obviously Scarlet was after Reeve. And the idea of that woman seducing her friend made Elena's stomach turn.

She also knew that if Scarlet touched Reeve's arm or leg one more time, Reno was going to lose his cool. Which was also interesting. After a couple of hours of uncomfortableness and generally being ignored, Elena decided she was going to leave. But she might as well rescue at least one person while she was at it. So the next time Reeve got up to go to the bathroom she made her own excuses and headed out of sight toward the back of the bar after Reeve. She waited till he came out of the bathroom and caught his arm.

"Look, I'm about to do my random act of kindness for the day. But you're going to have to not mind the water cooler rumours tomorrow. Can you handle that?"

"Uh, yeah." Reeve answered obviously confused.

She shooed him back to the table and went to use the facilities herself. When she came back she swayed a little more than the amount of alcohol she'd actually had warranted and not so smoothly deposited herself onto Reeve's lap.

Scarlet, who had been sitting close to Reeve talking to him and leaning forwards to flash her cleavage, suddenly had to sit back.

"Ooooo," Elena began slightly slurring her words. "You know when a girl says 'one more drink and I'm anyone's'? Well I think that was three drinks ago for me. " She leaned back and ran and unsteady finger down the side of Reeve's face. "How bout it buddy? Wanna be my anyone tonight?"

Reeve was understandably gob smacked. But he eventually understood what she had meant by their conversation earlier. He gave Elena a smile and tried not to let that smile show he'd caught on to her ruse.

"Sure, sounds like a plan."

Elena got up and grabbed Reeve's hand pulling him up with her. Scarlet's expression was priceless. She looked shocked but was giving Elena such a filthy look that Elena couldn't help but just grin back at her.

Reno's face was half caught between amused and unbelieving. That was interesting too.

"Night guys, see you tomorrow!" She called out over her shoulder and she left, Reeve in tow. She heard Reeve mutter something toward the group as well. But she soon had him out the door and into the fresher air of the street. Elena immediately dropped his hand and grinned at him.

"Am I smooth or what?"

Reeve looked about ready to laugh. "I think you may have just made an enemy."

Elena shrugged like it didn't matter. "See how much I care. That woman gives me the creeps. At least she might leave you alone now. It was the only way I figured you were gonna get out of there without her stalking you home or something."

"We'll see," Reeve said, unconvinced. "I appreciate the effort though."

"No effort, I wanted to leave anyway. Besides, if I didn't do it, I was starting to think Reno might."

Reeve lost his smile. "How did you…?"

Elena gave him a knowing look. "Despite what Reno might tell you I'm not an idiot. I can read the signs, especially when they're billboard size with fluorescent writing. Don't worry, I'm not gonna tell. But just sos you know, you might want to stop finishing each other's sentences quite so often, that might be a good place to start." Elena stretched. "I need sleep, so I'll see you tomorrow, okay? 'Night, Reeve."

"Goodnight Elena, and thanks."

"Hey, no sweat."

Reeve watched her walk down the street and then turned back to look at the bar. Abandoning Reno might not be the swiftest move considering the company he'd left him with, but leaving together would have been out of the question anyway. Oh well, Reeve thought, turning and walking off in the opposite direction, he'd make it up to him when he got home.

* * *

Reeve had just gotten out of the shower when he heard the door open and close again. He heard Reno approach the bathroom door and then it slid open to reveal him.

"You'd better be alone," Reno told him.

"Of course I am. I thought you'd realise what was going on." Reeve had wrapped a large towel around him and reached for another to dry his hair.

Reno came into the bathroom and sat down on the closed toilet seat. "I sort of knew, but you never can tell with that girl sometimes. I wouldn't mind giving her a big sloppy smooch myself after that performance even if she had dragged you off to have her way with you. Scarlet was more than a little pissy after you left. It was a good thing she wasn't wearing so much makeup for once so I could see her face turn that lovely shade of purple. Made my night, that did."

"Glad you were entertained."

"What's with her anyway? She's really been persistent."

"Yeah I noticed that. Tonight was probably a result of the conversation I had with her the other night. I forgot to tell you about that."

Reeve filled Reno in about bumping into Scarlet in the elevator and what she had said to him.

By the time Reeve had finished Reno was laughing so hard his eyes were starting to water. "She said what?"

"How can this not be disturbing you?"

Reno burst out laughing again. "Because it's Scarlet. That's just fucking hilarious!"

"Glad to see it's touched your funny bone, but it just kinda tickled my gag reflex."

Reno had to settle his laughing fit before he could talk again. His face had gone red and he was actually wiping tears from his eyes.

"Sorry, couldn't help it. H-o-l-y fucking crap. You know it never occurred to me that she might be getting the jollies about the idea of us together. It should have. I know she's got the hots for you and she only wants me cause I don't want her, but godsdamn, it must be a real turn on for her. I wonder how often that fantasy has served her alone in her bed at night."

Reeve draped the smaller towel over Reno's head. "Okay, that's a visual I could have done without. Thanks for that."

Reno peeked out from under the towel and grinned. "Your reaction is almost as funny. You know maybe there's something to this. Maybe I can have a feel around, see if we can't find a willing third for a night."

"Now you're teasing me."

"In a good way?"

"No. You don't honestly want to sleep with someone else do you?"

"No, not especially. But the idea of watching you from a third person perspective doesn't suck."

"Seriously?" Reeve asked unbelievingly.

"What can I say, I'd like to watch you work."

"Get a mirror and I'll show you." He responded with joking challenge.

Reno stood up and removed Reeve's towel with a tug. Then he put his hands on the other man's hips and leaned up to give him a kiss. After all, there was a big mirror in this room above the vanity basin that Reno found himself later facing and gripping tightly with his hands to keep steady from his slightly bent over position. This way he had a nice view of Reeve behind him and especially Reeve's face. He was right; he did like to watch him. That was, when he could manage to focus long enough to keep his eyes open.

After another shower, this time on even more unsteady legs, Reno flopped onto the sofa and lay back against Reeve in a boneless heap.

"I love that mirror," Reno commented for about the eighth time.

"You mentioned that."

They sat for a moment and watched TV.

"Should we eat at some point?" Reno asked after he felt his stomach rumble.

"I think I'd just like to breath for a little while, if it's all the same to you. I don't think I've ever been this exhausted."

It occurred to Reno that they hadn't spent this much time just solidly fucking, ever. When they had first gotten together too much other shit had been going on around them that they had been together with what little time was left to them, but that hadn't been a lot. And while Reno had been suspended, Reeve had been working on something big with one of the reactors and been tired a lot. By the time that had been over, they'd settled into some sort of routine that was less crazy fucking escapades and more like a semi sedate kind of relationship. But now, when they had even more shit to deal with at work, they barely spent a waking moment outside of work when they couldn't keep their hands off one another. This time, Reeve wasn't so shy about things, and Reno wasn't so bogged down by ten different kinds of mental problems – perhaps now only four – and they seemed to be at each other like two horny love struck teenagers. It was perhaps a little pathetic in some ways, but absolutely brilliant as far as Reno was concerned.

Now if only this while Avalanche and Sephiroth thing could be resolved. It would be close to perfect.

Reno groaned when his phone started chirping. Of course perfect didn't last forever. He managed to snag the phone off the coffee table with minimal effort involved and flip it open.

"It's pretty late, you know," Reno answered.

"And yet I'm not surprised in the least that you're still awake," Tseng replied. "Considering the fact that I managed to get a hold of you means that you haven't burnt Midgar to the ground yet."

"It's early days yet, Boss. And I have plenty of distractions to keep me sane. Not that I don't love listening to your honeyed tones that just drip sex and intrigue into my ear, it _is_ late. What's up?"

"I need you to send me Elena. I had a rough landing in the forest and I need a ride. Backup would be welcome, too."

"Sure you want me to send the rookie? Rude's got a mission coming up, but it's nothing if you need…"

"You need Rude with you to send out on missions. Send Elena, I don't expect there to be any problems."

"Right you are, Boss," Reno said uncertainly. "If you're sure."

"You worry too much, Reno."

"You're after the big bad Sephiroth, Tseng, I can't help it if I get worried about you."

"No fear, Reno. It's just like you said, track him, find out what's he's up to, don't make contact and call in the cavalry. Your concern is noted and appreciated."

"As long as something I do is appreciated. Happy hunting, Tseng."

"Goodbye, Reno."

When he hung up and lay back against Reeve again, he felt the unspoken question in the air. "He's alright. This is Tseng we're talking about."

"Right." Reeve replied uncertainly.

"I better call El though," Reno said after a moment and flipped his phone open once more. "If she leaves now she can get there before sunup. Where's Avalanche?"

Reeve went quiet for a moment before replying. "Camped down for the night on the beach near the temple. They should get there by tomorrow afternoon. I wish I could tell you where Sephiroth is, though."

"Me, too."

"Get Elena to get the second Cait out of storage to take with her, will you? Even if I don't end up needing it for Avalanche, I can use it to help them out if I need to."

"Nice idea," Reno said sincerely. "We can use all the help we can get at this point."

* * *

_"It occurred to me that I never really welcomed you home like I should have. You were gone a while this time huh? I sort of missed you."_

_ Rufus frowned. "It didn't sound like it."_

_ Reno shrugged. "Reeve is my friend. Considering what I've done to him in the past, I can't help but feel a little overprotective."_

_ "Just your friend huh? I thought you said you were in love with him."_

"Was, yes." Reno gave him a half smile. "Notice the past tense. He's my friend. Anything we had, well, ending it was obviously for the best. Besides, I understand my relationship with him better now. It was a glitch, nothing more, that's why my mind rebelled I think. I'm not meant to be with someone like that. I like people who are a little more in control of me. Which brings me back to my point: your welcome home."

_ "I'm not seeing the connection."_

_ Reno started toward him slowly, staring at him, those startlingly bright blue eyes lit with mischief and mako. _

_ "I realised something while you were gone," Reno began. "While you were out chasing down Sephiroth. 'Cause I was thinking about how I'd feel if anything happened to you."_

_ "Oh?" Rufus asked with a lump in his throat. "How would you feel?"_

_ Reno stopped just a little in front of him. "I think I'd die."_

_ "That's a little dramatic isn't it?"_

_ "Possibly. But it made me realise something."_

_ "What's that?" Rufus asked a little breathlessly. _

Rufus groaned and turned over in bed.

_ One hand gripping a sweaty shoulder pushing him down onto him fully again and again, the other holding his hip doing the same. Rufus remembered what he wanted to hear. _

_ "Tell me now!" Rufus demanded._

_ Reno gasped at the rough treatment and didn't answer at first. Not until Rufus pushed into him harder. "Tell me."_

_Between another moan and a heartfelt groan Reno gasped out. "I-I realised that…It's you, it's always been you…that I…"_

Rufus' eyes snapped open as he popped out of his dream to stare at the dimly lit ceiling above his head. He felt suddenly very awake. Sweat soaked sheets were wrapped around his near naked body as though he'd been twisting around in bed. Even when he tried to stretch a little his muscles felt stiff. And shockingly, that wasn't all.

"Holy shit, what the fuck was that?"

* * *

_Notes: Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. I think now we see what's up with Rufus. (Pun totally intended) As if you all already didn't know. And I think you all realise what's up coming. Yes, the chapter that was supposed to be about five chapters ago, it's temple of the ancients next oh my. _

_Love_

_AF_


	27. The Temple of the Ancients

**Important Note:** Okay so firsts thing first. When I began this fic there was no such thing as Advent Children and Crisis Core so all I had to go off was the original game and nothing more. I decided recently that even though more things have come out that might contradict whatever I've written I kept the story exactly as I originally planned it out and didn't change things to suit later movies and games. The future plot kind of depends on it so that's why I kept with it. Just so you know…

* * *

**What You Do To Me**

Chapter 27

By AF & Race Ulfson

The Temple of the Ancients

Tseng looked up at the mural on the wall in front of him. He never actually expected to find such a place out in the wilderness, but thankfully the rumors he'd heard over the years were fairly accurate, so he had no problems finding the temple's whereabouts. The five minutes or so Tseng had to look over the murals left by the Ancients left him with little idea why they were there or what exactly they were about. He wished he had the time to examine them further because from the impression he got, it seemed pretty dire.

He heard footsteps coming rapidly toward him, but Tseng didn't look around because he knew who it was. He smiled faintly. Apparently Reno hadn't taught his student the idea of stealth just yet.

"Tseng, what's this? Can we find the Promised Land with this?"

He turned toward her. Whatever ideas he'd gotten from his quick study, he didn't think it had anything to do with the Promised Land. Not if it was what he had imagined it was supposed to be.

"...I wonder. Anyway, we have to report to the President."

Elena nodded and started moving past him back toward the entrance. "Be careful, Tseng," she said over her shoulder.

"Yes. Say, Elena, how about joining me for dinner after this job is over?"

Elena stopped in her tracks, apparently unable to believe what she'd just heard. Tseng knew she had a crush on him, and normally he could not care less, but he began to wonder why indifference was his normal reaction. Questioning his own motives may have had something to do with the last couple of conversations he'd had with Reno. Tseng wasn't jealous, not of Reno and Reeve in particular, but he was starting to become jealous of what they had.

The change that came over Reno just after he'd been to see Reeve was almost a complete transformation for him. He was more relaxed and more human these days and Tseng knew exactly why. Reno had never been that way, not in all the time Tseng had known him. Yes, he supposed he was a little jealous that someone else had been able to bring that out in Reno, but Tseng was more jealous of the fact that he hadn't been able to experience it himself. He never had a lack of willing partners in the past despite the fact he largely ignored them, but a real connection with someone would be new for him.

And really, she was very cute, even if she did talk a lot.

"Th...Thank you very much," Elena said eventually after she had realized he was serious. He could tell he'd taken her unawares; she was so surprised that she couldn't say much of anything else afterwards. "If I may be excused..."

Tseng nodded to her with a smile and watched her go. When she was gone, he stopped smiled and turned his attention back to the mural.

"Is this the Promised Land?" He asked himself. He'd thought the mural had looked a little foreboding for something that was supposed to tell them where a fertile land of bounty was supposed to be. A large black circle took up a lot of the mural; it seemed to be falling...and on fire.

"No, it can't be..."

It was the softest of sounds, but reflexes kicked in and Tseng turned quickly and stared into a pair of bright green mako eyes.

"Sephiroth!"

Tseng hadn't really braced himself for seeing his old friend again. It had been over five years since they last met, before Sephiroth had apparently lost his mind. But they had been friends once; he just hoped Sephiroth remembered that.

"This place," Tseng began taking a cautious step toward him, 'what is it?"

Sephiroth didn't seem to be watching him, he was looking up at the mural behind Tseng, his eyes following the pictures. "A lost treasure house of knowledge. The wisdom of the Ancients..."

Sephiroth turned away and raised his arms, turning his face up toward the ceiling as though reveling in the warmth of the sun he couldn't feel through the stones of the temple. It was a little bizarre and more than a little unnerving to watch.

"I am becoming one with the Planet." Sephiroth told him.

"One with the Planet?" Tseng asked, confused, thinking, 'what, now?'

"You stupid fools. You have never even thought about it. All the spirit energy of this Place. All it's wisdom...knowledge... I will meld with it all. I will become one with it...it will become one with me."

Tseng frowned. "...you can do that?"

Sephiroth lowered his arms at the response. He didn't seem impressed at Tseng's lack of awe or understanding.

"The way...lies here. Only death awaits you all. But do not fear."

It was too quick for Tseng. Sephiroth whipped around to Tseng and Tseng felt pain. Looking down he saw the sword sticking out of his gut. He had barely seen his old friend move.

The sword was removed and Tseng went down onto his knees. The pain was intense, but he could hear Sephiroth still talking, still in the same tone as though he hadn't just done anything out of the ordinary. He managed to look up and saw Sephiroth gazing down at him.

"For it is through death that a new spirit energy is born. Soon, you will live again as part of me." Sephiroth told him. He knelt down beside the fallen Turk and stared into his eyes until Tseng couldn't keep his own eyes open any longer.

* * *

Reeve wasn't going to take any chances. He'd been told by Reno that the temple was not a good place to be for a while. According to Tseng, Sephiroth was there somewhere; Tseng and now Elena were around there somewhere as well. To top that all off he and Avalanche had just arrived on the scene. Of course Reeve was the only one of the group that knew for sure what they were here for and he couldn't really let on about that, either. Sure, everyone knew he was a spy now, but he felt he had to keep reminding himself just who it was he was supposed to be spying on.

When he was Cait, wandering around with Avalanche, it didn't feel like a dream as much as it used to. The people here were real people with valid motives- better motives actually than most at Shinra. Reeve knew he'd started to sympathise with these people and their struggle and it was getting to the point where he was starting to question who he was really helping here by staying with them. Any little advice he'd been able to give them to help them, he'd given them freely, while every little bit of information Reeve had taken back to Shinra had been doled out more grudgingly by the day. At first he had thought it was because Avalanche wasn't doing anything interesting enough to really report, but he knew the truth; he was beginning to hold back. And now that they had found out that Cait was a spy Reeve felt guilty about it. Really guilty, and he kept trying to make up for it being nice to them, trying to keep them motivated.

He knew that thinking like this could be dangerous. Reeve he knew that while he wasn't really a traitor to Shinra -yet - the time would come soon when he would have to decide who he was really going to help. He was conflicted about that to say the least.

Reeve had been thinking hard about his loyalties and he had to admit that his Shinra loyalties had more to do with an old sense of belonging rather than any real emotional tie to the place. It was where he worked, practically where he lived and where most of his friends were, too. But he wasn't there because he thought Shinra was necessarily bettering the world. He might have thought that once, but not for a very long time. He'd only initially taken the job with Shinra because he thought the idea of working with the reactors and the city of Midgar would be fascinating and he'd really needed to get out of Junon. So whatever his reasons for being at Shinra were, it had never been out of a deep seeded belief that he was really doing any good. He might have tried to improve Midgar for its citizens but he could only do what he was allowed to do. And what he'd been allowed to do for the people that really needed it had turned out to be: not much.

Avalanche believed, really believed that what they were doing was right. And though Reeve still had doubts about how blowing up a reactor and killing a lot of people in the process was helping, it wasn't any worse than what Shinra had done in retaliation by taking out an entire sector. So his dilemma was thus: he could continue to help Shinra to Avalanche's probable detriment, or he could help them, stop giving away information on them and be a traitor to the company.

Being a traitor to the Shinra was probably a little more harrowing than if you worked for the post office. When he had first started at Shinra the only thing he had to fear in disappointing the company was to be fired. But now Reeve knew better. When you really did something bad, being fired was the least of your problems. He had something going for him, though, in that he was sleeping with one of the people in the group that would be ordered to take him out if he became too much of a problem.

It wasn't a real comfort when he thought about it. Reno had said he would try to kill anyone stupid enough to order him to hurt Reeve, but Shinra wasn't filled with stupid people and Rufus certainly would never be stupid enough to give Reno such a command. He would probably order the other Turks to leave Reno in the dark completely. Reeve was friends with them all but he wasn't sure exactly how far that friendship stretched if really tested.

Tseng would probably kill him. Reeve didn't know why he thought that way, but he did. He was probably closest to Tseng next after Reno these days but he had the distinct impression that if it came down to it, Tseng would kill him if ordered to. He would do this for a couple of reasons. One, he was still a company man and loyal. Two, if he didn't do it someone else would. And three, whoever ended up doing it would be dealing with a pissed off Reno and Tseng was unlikely to want anyone else to deal with something like that.

Reno wasn't stupid, either. He knew enough about what Reeve's feelings were these days to know that if Reeve accidentally fell down a stairwell and broke his neck it would be, in fact, no accident at all. Not even Reeve knew the possible results of that particular revelation. He could be modest and assume that Reno would be simply be upset and pissed off. But if he were completely and totally honest with himself Reeve had to admit that Reno might just lose his mind again and start taking bloody revenge on those responsible.

Not that Reeve had started things up with Reno again for this reason, but even though he hated to admit it, having a previously unbalanced Turk in love with him was a protective ace up his sleeve. Rufus had to know that if it came down to it that if Reno had to choose between them, Rufus could not win. That and knowing Reno's reaction would probably give him pause when he thought about how to deal with Reeve. He hated to use his relationship with Reno this way, but it wasn't like it made the slightest difference to how Reeve felt about the other man anyway. So he might as well take advantage of this unintended situation as much as possible. He just had to hope Reno saw it this way too.

For the moment though he was focussed on what was in front of him. Reeve had stayed at home today, knowing what a possibly big day it was and needing his complete focus for Cait. He'd even had his spare put on the chopper with Elena just in case they got into a fight with Sephiroth. And after seeing the black-cloaked figure at the temple entrance, he had a feeling that a confrontation with the man was becoming more and more likely by the moment.

He followed the others inside the entrance to the temple and hearing the sudden silent shout from his unconscious mind, Cait and the mog rocked to a halt.

Tseng was slumped just inside against the altar. There was a lot of blood surrounding him.

"It's Tseng!" Aeris gasped.

Reeve had thought he was dead but the Turk's eyes fluttered open. Tseng used the altar behind him to pull himself up to his feet.

Cloud asked, watching Tseng with a wary eye. "Tseng? Of the Turks?"

"Uh…I've been had," Tseng managed before he slumped back down. It took all of Reeve's will for Cait not to go over and help him. "It's not the Promised Land…Sephiroth is searching for…"

At the mention of the name Cloud immediately perked up "Sephiroth? He's inside!"

With great effort Tseng raised a hand toward the altar.

"Look for yourself."

His strength seemed to be failing fast though and he let his hand dropped and closed his eyes. "Damn," he continued after a moment. "Letting Aeris go was the start…of my…bad luck…The President…was wrong…"

Reeve was about to lose his internal battle to not rush to Tseng when Aeris stepped in front of him with her hands on her hips. She didn't seem particularly happy to see her old stalker.

"You're wrong." Aeris informed him. "The Promised Land isn't like what you imagined." She turned around in a huff. "And I'm not going to help. Either way, there was no chance Shinra could have won." She stalked away to the corner of the antechamber, arms folded.

It could have been Reeve's imagination but Reeve thought he saw a small smile touch Tseng's lips despite the terrible pain he must have been in.

"…pretty harsh. Sounds like something…you'd say." Tseng pulled himself up again and with great effort stepped forward and handed something to Cloud. "The Keystone…Place it…on…the alter…"

Tseng staggered away and made it to the corner near the entrance before putting his back to the wall and slumping back down onto the ground. He left a bright red streak of blood on the wall behind him.

Back in Midgar Reeve felt himself draw in a deep shuddering breath. This couldn't be what it looked like. Was Tseng really badly injured?

Cait was watching Tseng but he still saw Cloud go over to Aeris.

"You crying?"

Aeris shook her head and turned around. "…Tseng's with our enemy, the Turks, but I've known him since we were little…There's not a lot of people I can say that about. In fact, there are probably only a handful of people in the world who really know me."

But Reeve wasn't really listening anymore. He had to help Tseng, he couldn't leave him like this.

Cloud, Aeris and Tifa went on into the temple but the others stayed back deciding instead to look around outside to see if they could find any evidence of Sephiroth or any other black cloaked figure. As soon as they were out of the entrance Cait jumped down off the mog and rushed over to Tseng.

When Tseng felt the robot's paws touch his chest he winced and opened his eyes again. It seemed to take a while for Tseng to properly focus on him.

"Reeve…"

"Tseng, what happened?"

Tseng almost laughed a little but the pain made him stop. "Sephiroth happened, of course."

"I'm gonna get you out of here," Cait told him decisively.

"Reeve, don't…"

But Reeve wasn't listening anymore. Cait clambered back up onto his mog and as gently as he could got the mog to move Tseng away from the wall and drag him toward the entrance.

"I've gotta get you some help," Cait told him. "I can't help you like this. Where's Elena?"

"Too…far…Reeve…"

They made it out of the temple and into the forest before Tseng made him stop in such a pained voice that Cait almost made the mog drop him. The mog laid him down on the ground and Cait jumped down again. He went over to Tseng and tried to look at the wound. The blood didn't seem to be stopping and Cait had nothing to help on him. The way Reeve was internally freaking out he could barely keep the robot's paws steady as it was. He put pressure on the wound as best he could and Tseng groaned.

"Sorry. I've gotta stop the bleeding somehow. Have you got your phone, why didn't you call Elena?"

"I…couldn't reach her. Reeve stop….there's nothing you can do."

"I can try and not let you die!"

Tseng smiled. "You won't be letting me die. I…hate to break this to you…but I think that's going to happen whether you…let it happen or not."

"Don't say that! I can go get Elena, just tell me where she is."

"Too…far. Reeve, you can't save me."

"Cloud has materia! I can go get it, they can't have gone too far, just wait-"

Tseng grabbed Cait's paw as he was about to rush back stopping him from leaving.

"Reeve, wait. Even if you had cured me the moment you found me… it…wouldn't have done any good. Reeve, I'm dying…don't leave…I'll be gone before you get back."

It took more than a few moments for Reeve to take that fact in. He momentarily lost a little control over Cait and the little robot fell bonelessly onto his ass next to Tseng.

"You can't be…"

"I am, Reeve. You can't stop it and you can't help me. Just don't leave yet, okay?"

Gaining some control, Cait crawled over to Tseng and gently picked up his head, laying it down onto the robot's little legs in an attempt to give Tseng some sort of comfort. Tseng's face was very white.

Cait smoothed back Tseng's hair off his face. He didn't know what to say. But this wasn't really a moment for him to talk, he realised that. He waited for Tseng to speak, but if was a good few minutes before he did.

"I know what you're doing, Reeve. You can't keep playing for both sides, you need to make a decision. I hope you don't make that decision in the same way I always did out of some old loyalty I didn't understand anymore. Don't…end up like I did," Tseng smiled painfully, "You'll break Reno's heart."

Nothing escaped Tseng apparently. Reeve wondered just how much Tseng knew about his co-workers and chose not to comment on it.

"Is there anything you want me to tell them?" Cait asked.

"I…can't think of anything to say. Isn't that funny…I could rant at Reno for hours normally about anything but…I can't think of anything meaningful now."

"It's not real hilarious," Reeve told him.

"Tell Rufus that he needs to stop trying so hard. Tell Elena I'm sorry I missed our date…Tell Rude he needs to go find Maggie. Tell Reno…tell Reno that I wish I'd never needed him."

Reeve didn't understand but he supposed that Reno would.

"Reeve, you need to help. Stop thinking about it and really help. Reno will help you…no matter what happens. But that also means…that you have to…make the right decisions for the both of you."

"He loves you, Tseng," Cait told him in a subdued tone. "We all do."

"That's…nice of you to say."

"Maybe you're not so all knowing after all," Cait told him fondly.

Tseng took in a deep shuddering breath. "I sure… hope…not…"

That breath was his last.

* * *

As soon as Tseng's eyes closed, Reeve detached. There was still a part of him that was there with Tseng, the dying Turk's head cradled in his little paws, but Reeve needed to act.

He moved too quickly at first once he came back to his body and the pain of sitting in one position for way too long sent streaks of agony up his legs and back when he tried to move. Reeve did his best to ignore it and snatched up his phone. He dialed Elena's number and waited for it to connect. All he got was a series of beeps and a voice message telling him that the customer could not be reached. Frustration took over panic and he tried the number several more times before giving up.

Now he had another dilemma. Did he go back to Tseng or did he call…who? Calling Reno sprang readily to mind but what would that accomplish? Nothing but make Reno want to go out there himself and that wouldn't help anyone.

Instead he sat back down and went back with his entire focus on Cait.

Cait couldn't feel for a pulse, he didn't have a sensitive enough touch to check if Tseng was still alive. He lay the Turk's head as gently as he could down onto the ground and crawled around so he could lean over and listen for a breath, or a heartbeat or something that would tell him the opposite of what he already knew and felt in his heart.

He couldn't hear anything, nothing at all. Tseng was gone.

He sat back for a while at just looked at his friend's pale unmoving face. He felt very tired and weary and knew he must be in some kind of shock. Then he started hearing the voices. He thought he must have been going crazy too until he remembered what it must have been.

Cait didn't carry a PHS like the other members of Avalanche. He was completely wireless and could pick up any signal anyone sent him whether they were trying to ring him or not. Often Aeris had a tendency to leave her phone on in her pocket and Cait's oversensitive ability to pick up signals meant that he could hear whatever conversation she was having at the time. This is what he was hearing now. So he sat in the forest, looked at Tseng and listened to the conversation his friends were having in the temple.

"Yes," Aeris was saying, "but there's one thing…You can only answer the puzzle inside the Temple. So, anyone who solves the puzzle will be crushed by the Temple."

"I see…the Ancients didn't want dangerous magic to be taken out of the Temple so easily…" Cloud's slightly muffled voice said.

Tifa must have said something, but she was standing further away from Aeris and Cait couldn't make it out.

"No. We've got to think of a way to get it out. Because Sephiroth has lots of different flunkies. It's nothing to him to throw their lives away to get the Black Materia….This place isn't safe."

"So what are we going to do?" Aeris asked.

Reeve knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to choose a side.

He disconnected Aeris's signal and rang Cloud.

"Hi, Cloud. This is Cait Sith. I overheard the whole story. Don't forget about me. Everything you said makes perfect sense. You can use my stuffed body for the future of the Planet."

"We can't let Sephiroth get his hands on the Black Materia. And we can't let the Shinra get theirs on it either." He told Cait meaningfully.

"But Cloud, there's really nothing else you can do." Out in the jungle Cait got back to his feet after laying Tseng's head down gently on the leaves.

"Everyone, please trust me."

Solving the puzzle hadn't been all that tricky for him. It had just been a matter of moving the pieces around till he found the correct shape. But he hesitated before moving the last piece on the puzzle in front of him wondering what was going to happen to him when Cait got crushed by the temple.

Surely nothing bad would happen. This was a robot not a living thing and Reeve's own body was thousands of miles away in Midgar, in his apartment, sitting on his bed and safe. Cait didn't even really feel pain the way a normal person did and though sometimes when he ran into something or got hit harder than usual he'd say 'ow' but that was mainly due to shock and habit more than the pain he felt in his own body. Reeve did feel some kind of pain when it happened though. If Cait got hit for instance, several systems in the robot seemed to momentarily get a little lost like his balance, vision and things like that and the momentary upset sometimes did cause Reeve to feel a little pain in his head as he fought to regain control of the robot. Knowing this, he wondered how safe he was doing this. He could always pull his conscious back before he got crushed but he could never completely sever the connection remotely and something would feed back along those lines of connection just like it always did.

It was a risk however that he was willing to take. Sure he might just be about to make himself a vegetable by doing this, but he might also only get very little to no pain from the stunt, he just didn't know. He briefly thought about warning someone, leaving a note, anything telling anyone who found him what had happened and why. And he realized with more than a twinge that it was most likely that it would be Reno that found him when or if he ever made it back home from work. It was more than likely he was going to be there for the night according to his last phone message to Reeve. Reno would hear about Tseng, be distraught then come home and find Reeve comatose or worse. He couldn't imagine doing that to him, but then again, he couldn't not going through with this just on the off chance it did do something bad to him. The other members of Avalanche were putting themselves in danger every day and here was Reeve always safely in Midgar, always out of harms way. It was easy to pretend to be the hero when your life wasn't on the line. Well here was a chance for him to prove that he was willing to take the same chances, that he was willing to put his life on the line for them and for the greater good.

Or get a mild headache, either way.

Reeve did take the opportunity to come back to his body long enough to scribble something down on a notepad beside the bed before going back and completing the puzzle. The note merely said:

_Reno,_

_ I'm sorry,_

_I had to try_

_ I love you._

It wasn't enough but time was running out and he got back to Cait just as the temple started shaking in earnest and he fit the last piece into place. Reno would understand what he meant, he knew he would, even if he didn't accept the why of it.

He disconnected just before the walls came completely in and he felt a massive bolt of pain streak through head as though following his consciousness from the crushed robot and back into his mind in Midgar. He clutched his head in fear his brain was about to implode but as the seconds ticked on and nothing more dire happened he started to feel a little better. The pain receded and he took in a deep shuddering breath. Eventually he was just left with a dull but severe ache that seemed to pulse in his brain in time to his heart beating.

So not a mild headache but not a vegetable and not dead. Considering, Reeve counted himself pretty lucky.

* * *

Reeve knew he'd been gone too long. As soon as the first Cait had been crushed in the temple, he'd reached out for the second one Elena had bought with her in the chopper.

It was like he felt himself slide inside the new brain and he saw a bright flash and felt one of the new limbs twitch. He wondered briefly if his own arm had twitched as he sat on his bed back in Midgar. He had no way of knowing and no time to switch back and find out.

"Holy crap! Gods, you scared the bejezus outta me, Reeve!"

Cait blinked at turned his head to find Elena, sitting in the passenger seat of the chopper. Both Elena and a Trooper were staring back at him with wide eyes.

"Sorry," Cait mumbled. "Elena, what's wrong with your phone?"

Elena frowned and shrugged. "There's next to no reception out here. Did you try to call me?"

"Yeah, from Midgar. Tseng…" Reeve didn't know what to say or how to say it.

"What happened with the temple?" Elena asked, cutting in. "We felt the ground shake."

"The temple is gone," Cait told her.

Elena went from confused to panic in a matter of seconds. "Tseng-"

"He wasn't in the temple." Cait explained. "I managed to get him out. But Elena, I need to tell you something."

* * *

_Notes: I know what a shitty place to end it. But I will be spending the entire next chapter dealing with what has happened so there's that to look forward to. Now you know why I gave the warning .It needed to stay this way for the future plot and not simply because I am a sadistic maniac who likes to make her characters suffer *cough* Tariff *cough* Caryla, um, Kattie, *cough* is that all of them for this series I can't remember anymore. Okay so maybe I am a little sadistic. Though it does make for good emotional story telling._

_Special thanks to Race whose ideas and input made this chapter about a thousand words longer and a lot better and complete. Yay._

_AF_


	28. Downhill

What You Do To Me

By AF

Chapter 28

Downhill.

Reeve had been gone from his body for hours after Cait Sith rejoined Avalanche and he felt a weariness he hadn't experienced in a long time. Aeris was missing; Cloud had gone a little insane before passing out. The plan was to take Cloud to Gongaga to rest up before trying to track down Aeris. At least while they were doing mundane things like traveling, Reeve could leave the robot in the back of his mind and come back to his body.

He was sore and stiff and he was surprised to find his cheeks were damp.

He needed to move, at the very least he needed to go to the bathroom pretty badly but instead Reeve just sat there, starting out his window at the city from his thirteenth- story vantage. It was midday or thereabouts. It was hard to tell in Midgar exactly.

Tseng…

Reeve let out a deep breath. It still didn't seem real that Tseng was really dead. Elena had rushed off to where he'd left Tseng's body when Reeve had told her what had happened but he knew what she would find. Reeve had been certain before he'd left him there.

It had been hard to leave Tseng's body there and he didn't really understand why. There was nothing Reeve could have done differently that would have given him a better result. Even if he'd been able to contact Elena she wouldn't have reached them in time, and he sure couldn't have dragged Tseng all the way back to the chopper because that would have taken him hours when he only had Tseng's semi-lucid directions to guide him. He knew all this. But he still felt guilty.

Tseng…

_Gods…Reno…_

Reeve stretched out and snatched up his phone. He dialed Reno's number but he only got voicemail. He didn't want to leave a message, but he had to tell Reno what had happened. He didn't want to, but Reeve didn't want him to hear it from someone who didn't care.

Elena couldn't have called, but eventually she would have radioed it in and that meant the higher-ups could find out about it before Reno did. They would call Reno into an office and give him the harsh facts. Reeve didn't want that.

Out of desperation he found out Rude's number and called him instead, hoping he was with Reno.

"Rude," was the eventual answer.

Reeve could tell even with a voice's like Rude's that he'd already found out. And that meant that Reno had been told too.

"Rude, is Reno with you?"

"He's in with Heidgar." A long pause. "Reeve…"

"I know, Rude. I'm so sorry. I'm on my way in. Don't let Reno, do anything…well, something very Reno-like, okay?"

"Might be difficult. I feel like doing something very Reno-like myself right about now."

* * *

"_As a point of fact you are my Turk to boss around, Reno. You're on suspension but you haven't been fired. What happened with Tariff was an accident, I don't care what your past records might say. If somebody else had been in your position I doubt it would've gone so far as suspension. You got suspended more easily than I would have Rude for one reason. You have a head for strategy, Reno, tonight's example is a perfect one. In a situation with no backup you didn't give in to temptation and start shooting everything in sight, you used your head and devised a good plan. If you had waited for me or Rude to go after her again it might have been too late."_

"_I'm saying that I agreed with the suspension on one condition, that you'd be someday allowed back. I recruited you with the idea of training the next leader of the Turks. Heidigar knew this, but he didn't like it when you started to show signs of slacking off. I asked for Tariff with the idea that you might buckle down and work to the best of your ability. And it worked. But Heidigar was more impressed with Tariff. He thought I was training the wrong man to someday replace me._

_ You may not have begun the night with aspirations to impress Shinra, but you will at any rate. Rude is an ex-trooper, he follows orders and is not conditioned to give them. The way you think, the way you plan is the way of a leader Reno and now they will see what I have been seeing in you. A little more conditioning and you'll be ready, that is, if you aren't already."_

"_The way you think, the way you plan is the way of a leader Reno and now they will see what I have been seeing in you."_

"… _they will see what I have been seeing in you."_

"…_what I have been seeing in you."_

Reno couldn't breathe properly. It was as if his body had rebelled against him and was going to suffocate him. His head began to throb painfully and his eyes burned.

Outwardly he appeared calm. Calm to all those who didn't really know him, at least. The only other person in the room that would have been capable of seeing Reno's true reaction, was doubtless, dealing with much the same thing as himself right now. But he doubted Rude was looking at him anyway.

The room was spinning and closing in on him at the same time. The only real thought in Reno's head was telling him to get out of that cramped office. But he didn't let himself move. He wouldn't show Heidigar the weakness. Not now. But it was hardly something he had to consciously strive for anyway. Reno wanted to run, but he couldn't move. He wanted to sink down onto his knees and cradle his head in his palms but he couldn't cry. His stomach heaved, but he swallowed thickly to keep its contents in place.

Vaguely he was aware that Heidigar was still talking. Reno hadn't been paying attention, but his ears seemed to pick up the last few bits of the speech.

"…A good man, and one we could not afford to lose." Reno was actually surprised to hear a bit of remorse in Heidigar's voice. But he suspected that it was from the loss of a good Turk, not for the man himself.

"Still, things move on. You have your assignments. I suggest you get on with them."

And there it was, the signal that they had been dismissed. Reno was the first to turn toward the door. The need to get out of the room was intense.

"Reno." Heidigar interrupted. "You stay. There are things that need to be discussed."

Sucking in a much-needed breath, Reno nodded and watched as his co-workers filed out of the office, closing the door behind them. Reno turned back to his boss. Unaware why Heidigar wanted to keep him back, his blank mind not being able to focus on anything but his screaming head.

"Reno," Heidigar began once they were alone, "As I suspect you've already been told, you were to become next Leader of the Turks. While I didn't agree with the decision, it looks as though it is now out of my hands. Congratulations, you have now been promoted. You're new level of clearance is now Rank S. And you will be subordinate now only to the President and myself. Your assignments, left by your predecessor, need to be attended to tomorrow. You and your Turks may take the rest of the afternoon off. Dismissed."

Hearing only half of what Heidigar had told him, Reno hoped that his brain would share figure out the rest later. He offered a "Yes Sir," turned, and escaped the office. It wasn't until he was in the hall outside that the stoic mask on his face slipped just a little. Ignoring everything around him, including the heavy hand on his shoulder that told him that Rude had been waiting for him, Reno hurried for the bathrooms down the hall. He was practically running when he hit door to the men's room; Reno barely made it to a stall before his stomach decided that it was no longer going to keep its contents.

He spent nearly five minutes sitting on the cool tiles of the stall, his head bent over the toilet before he was allowed to take a much-needed breath of air. He didn't feel much better afterwards; his head was still buzzing, his stomach was in knots and he felt dizzy. It was weird, his reaction to loss. Normally Reno had a stomach of iron and some of the most horrible things in the world didn't faze him in the least. Blood, gore, violence and physical pain, those he could deal with but shocking emotional trauma always made him throw up. And if anything were likely to trigger this weakness in him, it would be losing someone close to him.

In some optimistic part of his mind, Reno couldn't help thinking that someone, somewhere had made a terrible mistake. Tseng couldn't be dead, it just wasn't that easy. He had been one of the best Shinra had to offer. No, he had been _the_ best. He couldn't just die. It was absurd!

But mistakes like that weren't made. Not ever. Not when it was this important.

And because of it, Reno had never felt so dead. And that was saying a lot.

Vaguely, he heard the door to the men's room open, and heavy footsteps on the tiled floor. Reno didn't move. He seriously doubted he was capable of standing on his own two feet right now. He just sat, half sprawled, his back against the side of the stall. His mind whirring with a million and one different painful thoughts, but somehow remaining blank at the same time.

"Reno."

A concerned voice, a somewhat sad voice. Rude's voice.

Reno didn't answer, he just stared blankly at the wall in front of him.

"Reno, we should talk."

Funny really, that a guy usually so silent and stoic was urged into talking only when somebody close to him had died. Wasn't that when people were supposed to be quietly contemplative, think about the good 'ol times and shit like that?

"Not now," his voice returned, scratchy from throwing up.

"But Reno…"

Reno had always had two ways to deal with REALLY BAD THINGS. First he would freak out and try to run. Check. Then if that didn't work, he would resort to intimidation and violence to help.

Faster than he believed he could still function, Reno had his gun out and pointed at his friend by the door to the stall. It was a loose grip and both knew that he would never pull the trigger. But it helped get his point across.

Rude backed off. Reno could hear him leave the bathroom, the door swinging shut behind him with a soft 'bump'.

Minutes dragged by, to Reno it felt like hours, but at the same time it felt like mere seconds. Time stopped making sense along with the rest of the world. He sat there trying to think clearly, trying to summon up pictures, memories, but they wouldn't come. It was as if all his memories had gone away along with his friend. A smile was a blur, a spoken word was gibberish. Reno's mind refused to settle properly and let him see and hear what he wanted to. It had only been a few days, there was no way he could have forgotten, could he?

All too soon, he heard the bathroom door open once more. It was late in the afternoon, and this bathroom wasn't used much by the Shinra employees anyway. Nobody wanted to run the risk of running into Headgear and the bathroom was distressingly close to his office. Rude must have come back for a second try.

Reno resumed pointing his gun haphazardly at the doorway to his stall and closed his eyes.

The footsteps stopped by the door. Hesitated for a brief instant then stepped fully in. The gun was taken out Reno's hand, another body bent in close to put it back in its holster beneath his jacket.

Dazed, Reno opened his eyes to see a head of soft dark brown hair bent over him, replacing his gun. A familiar scent touched his nose.

"Reeve?"

Reeve finished with the gun and gave Reno a sad smile, brushing a few odd strands of bright red hair out of his face.

"I won't ask if you are alright. I know I'm not, and it wouldn't even come close to what you are feeling right now."

The words were soft, almost soothing in Reno's ears. This wasn't a demand to talk. It wasn't even an invitation to listen. He was just here. Sympathetic naturally, but understanding.

"Rude told me you were here, told me what happened." Reeve paused, a slight catch in his throat. Of course it had occurred to Reno that people were suffering the same as him, that Rude really did need to talk to someone or that Reeve felt grief for his friend. But Reno couldn't help right now. He didn't want to comfort other people, he didn't want to be comforted even. He just wanted to be, and have to time think for himself.

"I'll take you home."

Not an order but a simple statement, and one Reno couldn't find fault with. At least at home, he wouldn't have to deal with work. Or anyone else for that matter. Sure he wouldn't exactly be alone, but he wouldn't feel like he was _dealing_ with Reeve.

And so, Reno let himself be dragged to his feet and guided out of the Shinra building and into a cab.

* * *

Home turned out to be Reeve's place. Of course it was. He got Reno to sit on the couch and disappeared for a few moments. He came back a few moments later, setting a glass of ice and an open bottle of whiskey on the coffee table in front of Reno.

"I'll give you an hour, then I'll call Rude," Reeve told him.

Reno had forgotten but Reeve hadn't. After a Turk dies the remaining Turks go out and have a good barful of drinks in his memory. It had slipped Reno's mind largely because he really didn't feel like doing that tonight.

But that was him being selfish again. Reno didn't want to do the mundane 'drinking to your fallen co-worker' routine because that's exactly what it felt like, routine. How could he do something so ordinary for Tseng? His death was too big a loss for any set ritual. But Reno knew Reeve was right, it had to be done because that's what was done.

Apparently. Reno hadn't been to all that many unofficial Turk wakes He hadn't gone to Tariff's because he'd killed him by accident and it probably wouldn't have been real appropriate to say the least. Any other Turks that had died while he'd been around he'd either been unable to attend due to complications with work or basically because he hadn't liked the assholes anyway and figured they'd more than deserved to die.

It took him a few moments to realize Reeve wasn't in the room anymore. Reno didn't know where he'd gone but he vaguely remembered hearing the front door close. Reeve had probably left the apartment, obviously realizing that Reno didn't want company. At least not yet. Later he'd crave comforting arms around him and Reeve's soothing presence. But he didn't want that right now. Right now Reno was feeling very angry at the world in general. Right now he needed to alternatively stew and feel numb.

He wasn't even that angry at Avalanche and he wasn't sure why. Reno would have to hear the details from Elena to know for sure, or even Reeve could tell him, but he suspected that it wasn't Avalanche that had taken Tseng out. It had most probably been Sephiroth, per Tseng's prediction.

That bought Reno to another revelation. He wasn't even that pissed with Sephiroth. The man was crazy; Reno could relate. Doing things you're sure are for the greater good, determined in your course of action even though it was stupid and destructive and mad was something Reno could definitely get his head around. Sephiroth wasn't doing this because he really wanted to see particular individuals suffer. He was doing it because in his crazy mind he was the righteous one and that he deserved more than he'd been given.

He was bonkers, but that's really how it was. Not that Reno felt sorry for him. Sephiroth was a mass murdering psychopath that needed to be killed in the worse way, but he wasn't exactly the root of the problem now was he? Solider candidates seemed to have a predisposition for insanity; Reno had both seen and heard about it in the past. The more their bodies had been tampered with, the more crazy you got, 'till you got something like Sephiroth who was just pure madness incarnate. But who had done that to them?

Shinra.

Now, why had Reno joined up, again? Oh yeah, because he'd felt important and needed and Tseng had volunteered him without asking him first. He hadn't really given the whole thing a lot of thought. Sure he'd initially told Tseng no, but after Tseng had admitted he needed him, that had been that and Reno had then belonged to Shinra.

It had just been the two of them for the first couple of months and they'd fought, argued and raged against each other for almost the entire time. It wasn't to say they hadn't been friends, but they were both such polar opposites of each other they were doomed to get on each other's nerves eventually. Well, immediately, in their case. It had gotten to the point that Tseng had beaten him black and blue after saving him from certain death on a mission before Reno had begun to settle down a bit. They had then tried to be proper friends. They sparred together, went out for drinks together and eventually did even more with each other. But the fighting never really stopped. Reno knew he was the one to blame for that. He didn't listen, was uncooperative and stubborn. Okay so maybe they hadn't been opposites because Reno recalled Tseng was exactly the same.

_Had_ been, he reminded himself.

Despite everything, Reno had known on some level that Tseng really cared about him. He'd practically told Reno one time that it was the reason Tseng tried so hard with him when another person would have just had him fired or shot. Half of Tseng's problem with him had probably stemmed from Tseng trying to do what was best for him and Reno fucking it up by not listening and trying his hardest to win himself an early grave.

And it might just be that Tseng had finally given up on him before Reno had a chance to prove to Tseng that he could be what Tseng wanted him to be. And that didn't make Reno feel as bad as he thought it might. Reno had tried to be a good Turk and bad things had happened. Tseng would probably be a lot happier in the knowledge that Reno didn't want to be a good Turk anymore. That wasn't to say he wanted to be a bad Turk either.

He just didn't want to be a Turk anymore.

For Tseng's memory though, Reno would take on the job he had apparently been trained for. He'd be Turk Leader, he'd try to avenge Tseng to the best of his or anyone else's abilities and that would be that. Right?

He heard Reeve come back and felt him sit on the arm of the chair next to Reno. Without a word, Reeve curled a hand around the back of Reno's neck, underneath his hair and gave it a rub. Reno opened his eyes and noticed that the bottle Reeve had set down in front of him earlier was half empty. He couldn't remember drinking any of it. And more disturbing was that he didn't feel in the least affected by it.

"Rude will be over soon," Reeve told him. "I called about ten minutes ago on my cell. I got you some more to drink so you guys can just stay here if you like."

"Has it been an hour already?" Reno asked.

"Almost. Did you want me to call Rufus as well?"

"No," the immediate answer took Reno a little by surprise. Why should he care whether Rufus was here or not? Rufus was as much one of the gang as any of them. He couldn't really blame Rufus for what happened, either. Rufus wasn't personally responsible for Sephiroth. Perhaps his anti Shinra feelings had prompted the reaction, he didn't know.

"Um, actually, maybe you'd better," Reno amended after a moment. "You're right, I don't feel much like going out."

Reeve gave Reno's neck one final squeeze and got up to use the phone. r Rude and Rufus arrived shortly and they got down to the proper ritual of drinking and conversation that usually happened after a Turk death. Never once in a million years did Reno ever think he'd be the one remembering Tseng in this moment. He'd always assumed it would be the other way around.

* * *

It was early morning when they finally decided to call it quits. Rude had left a half hour before and Rufus finally got to his feet to head out himself. He was just getting to the door, thinking to ask Reno if he was going home as well. When he turned to look back, Reno was leaning back against Reeve while the other man stroked his hair with one hand and had his other arm around Reno's shoulders.

Rufus didn't know what it was that bothered him about that sight so much at the time, but he left without another word, frowning.

TBC

* * *

_Review?_


	29. Let Go

**What You Do To Me**

**Chapter 29**

**Let Go**.

"_You might not believe this but I've I think I may be missing you a little."_

_Reno laughed at the comment and came to sit beside Tseng on the concrete barricade on the side of the road. _

"_Now I know you've gone nuts."_

_Tseng smiled at him. "You may be an arrogant little asshole most of the time, but we've been practically living in each other's pockets for the past year and now that you are on assignment our paths never cross apart from these status updates. I guess I just got used to you being there."_

"_I thought you'd have gotten used to me not being there a lot swifter. Actually I would have thought you'd be enjoying yourself."_

"_Me too. It's funny the things you get used to. It's difficult when such a constant force in your life is suddenly missing. You know, I asked Rude the other day what he was going to do on his weekend off."_

"_That must have been thrilling."_

"_I think he has a date actually, but he was very evasive about it so I can't be certain. All he really said was that he was going out for dinner one night and that he would use the rest of his weekend off catching up on his paperwork."_

_ "I'm so happy for you Tseng," Reno said in mock excitement. "Finally you have a real dedicated worker to work alongside whose private life is only slightly more exciting than yours!"_

_ Tseng smiled. "Actually that _is_ gratifying. But before he answered I found myself expecting to hear a long-winded tale about where he was going, the people he was going to see and just how trashed he hoped to get before Monday. I was disappointed, to say the least." _

_ "If you want to live vicariously through another person I wouldn't rely on Rude. He's a good guy but excitement isn't exactly in his vocabulary, ya know?"_

_ "I'm surprised 'vicariously' is in yours."_

_"Tut, tut, remember the last time you poked me about my slum rat credentials?"_

_ "Yes, you shot at me."_

_ "Technically I was shooting at the wall in front of you. But I can't comment on whether I was disappointed or not that I hit my target."_

_ Tseng was still smiling a little as he looked up at the darkening Midgar skyline. "How am I friends with you? We have nothing in common, we argue constantly and occasionally we try very hard to kill one another."_

_ "Difference is the spice of life," Reno offered. "If everyone were the same, life would be pretty boring. Especially if they were all like you."_

_ "You're hilarious Reno," Tseng told him in a deadpan voice. "But I suppose you have a point."_

_ "I usually do, though I never said they were ever very good ones. At least you've grown to appreciate me now. You never know what you have sometimes until it's gone."_

_ "Yes," Tseng agreed. "Not matter how hard you try to forget it."_

_ "Hey!"_

* * *

Surprisingly, Reno slept quite well that night. He'd fallen asleep wrapped up in Reeve's arms and been unconscious mere minutes after his head hit the pillow. He wondered if it was because he was depressed or whether it was because he was just mentally and physically exhausted after yesterday. It was probably a combination of both.

He woke up still in Reeve's arms with the other man pressed up against his back and snoring lightly. His head felt a little tender from the amount he'd drunk the night before and he felt queasy from not eating anything solid for about twenty-four hours but apart from that he felt pretty okay.

He had thought he'd have a sleepless night followed by a truly depressing black cloud making him want to act like a child and stay in bed for the next week. Reno was a little shocked that he hadn't and he didn't want to.

He shifted slightly causing Reeve to move as well and he heard the other man yawn loudly before he felt a kiss on the back of his neck.

"You'll have to let me go," Reno informed him, "or I'm gonna be late for work."

Reeve didn't move at first and Reno thought he must have gone back to sleep. But after a moment he heard Reeve's very awake voice ask, "You're going in today?"

"Shinra didn't die, Reeve. The world won't conquer itself so I'd better get dressed."

Reeve moved his arm so Reno could roll out of bed. He was still wearing his work pants from yesterday but he figured he didn't have enough time to run home and change into a clean pair. He rummaged about in Reeve's dresser for some clean boxers.

While he was changing, Reeve propped himself up and watched him. Reno noticed he didn't look like he'd gotten much sleep.

"We didn't really talk last night," Reeve told him.

"No sorry. I was pretty surprised how tired I was. Was it important?"

"It's probably important, but not urgent. It can wait until tonight if you'd prefer."

"Probably a good idea."

Reeve watched him for a few more moments before speaking again.

"Reno, are you okay?"

Reno finished buttoning his shirt and looked over at Reeve. "Better than expected, but not as good as I hoped. Where is Avalanche right now?"

"Heading toward the City of the Ancients after Aeris. She took off after Cloud…after the temple collapsed."

Reno looked thoroughly confused and Reeve realized that he'd spent more than a day with Cait while Avalanche was at the temple and therefore hadn't been able to fill Reno in on a lot of details. He did so now, careful to leave out any mention of Tseng for now, leaving that particular conversation for a later time.

"Let me get this straight," Reno said, sitting down on the side of the bed, obviously a little blown away by the large amount of information. 'Sephiroth is planning to summon this big meteorite using the black materia and Aeris has run off to stop this Strife is running off after her and therefore Sephiroth to try and stop her. And Sephiroth has the black materia?"

The way Reno summed it up made Reeve feel a little embarrassed. "Yes."

Reno's brow creased. "Is everyone in Avalanche mentally retarded?"

"She can't go after him by herself, she'll be in danger," Reeve tried to argue.

"Yes and running off after her and Sephiroth both with a man that could snap at a moment's notice and dance to the tune of Sephiroth's fiddle will make her and the rest of the world so much safer," Reno said sarcastically.

Reeve couldn't really argue anymore. He agreed with Cloud that Aeris couldn't face Sephiroth alone, but he could more than see Reno's point too.

"Our options are pretty limited."

"So are their brain cells. I'll have to tell Rufus about this. If we can get up there and keep Sephiroth from getting that materia, crisis might be averted."

Reeve nodded. "You might be right."

"How soon do you think they'll get to the city?"

Reeve did a few quick calculations in his head. "At least a few more days."

"Good. I have to go, I'll see you later, okay?"

Reno came over to give Reeve a kiss before leaving and his eyes were caught by a scrap of paper on the bedside table. Reeve followed his distracted gaze and tried to snatch up the paper before Reno got it. He failed. He saw Reno scan the note, look confused for a moment and then angry. Reeve winced, he had forgotten to throw the note out after he survived his little stunt at the temple. The particulars of Tseng's death weren't the only things he had left out of his report earlier.

"What the fuck is this?" Reno asked.

"I wanted to have the apartment repainted?" Reeve offered lamely.

"You had to apologize and tell me you love me because you want to stare at different colored walls? What kind of moron do you think I am?"

"It's a pretty drastic shade."

"Reeve! What the fuck did you do?"

Reeve sat up looked up at the livid man standing over him with the tightly clenched scrap of paper in his hand.

"Yeah, um, about the temple becoming the black materia and the puzzle inside and all that. Well, you have to actually be inside the temple to do it. It was the temple itself that became the materia. Cait is a robot, he was the best choice to get the materia."

"So why does this note sound like you were saying goodbye? Did you think something might happen to you if Cait got crushed?"

"It was a possibility," Reeve answered carefully. "But it just gave me a headache. Look I just wanted to leave you something, just in case, that's all."

"Just in case what, Reeve? In case what? Did you think you might die?"

"No," Reeve answered fairly honestly. "I did think there was a remote chance it could, well, kill my brain a little, but that was pretty far-fetched."

"I'm sorry, did you just say it might have killed your brain?" Reno stared at him in horror. "Reeve! After what had just happened to Tseng and then you…no, okay, just no!" Reno paced around the bed. "What good did it do to get that materia for anyone? Sure, Sephiroth might have been able to get it on his own but guess what, you got the fucking thing for him! He only has to take it from Avalanche now!"

He let Reno rant at him for a moment because he suspected that Reno wasn't just ranting at him and it might be better for him to get it out now.

"You can't take chances like that! If you ever…I would…"

"Look I know," Reeve told him, standing up. "I really know, but I couldn't stand by and do nothing, I just couldn't and you know that. I'm sorry, Reno, but that's just the way I am."

"You're fucking killing me, Reeve."

Reeve caught his chin and kissed him once briefly. "Nothing happened, I'm safe. Please stop worrying about it."

"Promise me you will never take a chance like that again."

Reeve nodded. "I promise I will never collapse a temple of the ancients around the ears of the robot cat I am wirelessly linked to ever again."

"How can you even joke about this?"

"What, make jokes about dire life threatening things for no good reason? Gee, I have no idea where I would have picked that up from."

"Very fucking funny. I'm going to work, then I'm coming back to rant at you some more."

Reno left after another quick kiss and Reeve fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. He was going to be late for work himself but he didn't much care.

* * *

Reno had chosen to have the Turk morning meeting in Tseng's office despite feeling a bit creepy about it. He supposed that it was his office now anyway, but he couldn't really digest that notion at the moment. But it was a nice private place to have a chat with his, well, subordinates.

Rude looked even more expressionless than usual as he sat in one of the visitor's chairs. Elena, who'd only just arrived back in Midgar this morning, looked dead on her feet. Her red puffy eyes that told Reno that she'd spent the entire flight back to Midgar in tears.

Reno couldn't bring himself to sit behind Tseng's desk so instead sat on it, facing the two other Turks. He told them everything Reeve had told him this morning to catch them up before adding:

"I don't want to talk about yesterday too much right now. I want to give you both time off but we can't and you both understand why. You'll get the time, but you have to wait. We still have things that need to be done."

Both of them nodded and neither argued. They knew the import of what was happening at the moment.

"Elena, I want you to go home and get some sleep 'cause tonight I want you back in the chopper and heading up north. I want you to keep an eye on Avalanche and keep us up to date on their position.

"Isn't that what Reeve is doing?" Elena asked.

"Sort of. He can tell us when they are somewhere he recognizes but after the third day of trekking through a forest where everything looks the same your average city boy starts to wonder where the hell he is anymore. Reeve wasn't an experienced tracker to begin with and we should have been watching Avalanche more closely from the start. Try not to get involved, just keep an eye on them."

"Yeah right, keep an eye on them," Elena said with disgust. "For all we know they were the ones that killed Tseng. Did Reeve tell you what happened?"

Reeve had not told him and Reno supposed it was part of what Reeve had wanted to talk to him about. He got an uneasy feeling all of a sudden. But he couldn't believe that Reeve would still want to help them and stay a part of the group, spy or not, if they had anything to do with Tseng's death. Reeve's loyalties couldn't be _that_ shaken, could they?

"Not about that but I'll talk to him about it later. I'm laying odds it wasn't Avalanche, though."

"You don't know that for sure! How can I just sit back and watch them if they had anything to do with it?"

"I said I didn't want to talk about that today," Reno told her calmly but firmly.

The tone was enough for her to shut up. Reno didn't usually talk to her like that. If he wanted her to be quiet he'd tell her to shut the fuck up, but she'd never heard him use that severe, firm tone of voice before and she looked guilty for a moment after realizing she wasn't the only one grieving here.

"Sorry, Reno."

"All good, El. Go home and get some rest."

Elena got up and left the office. Once she was gone Rude finally spoke for the first time since the meeting had started.

"Why are you sending the rookie?"

Rude didn't mean it like he didn't think Elena could handle it. But he had to realize that normally she wouldn't have been sent out if Rude had nothing else to do.

"I need you in Midgar. Elena bought Tseng back to Midgar and I figured you'd want to be here for the funeral."

He could tell Rude hadn't thought about that.

"What about his family?"

Reno sighed. "They wont take the body, it's…complicated. Besides, we're his family. El is upset sure but we were closest to him, so if I _have_ to choose one of you to leave the city, I figured you'd rather stay. He wanted his ashes taken to Wutai but we'll have the funeral here. We can go to Wutai with El once this Sephiroth thing calms down a little."

Rude didn't ask how Reno knew since the two Turks had had a similar conversation in the past. Working in a job like theirs…well, you needed to tell someone your final wishes because more often than not it was going to be another Turk that saw to your funeral in the end. Rude remembered that Reno had been a little unspecific in his own wishes. He just wanted to be lain to rest somewhere out of Midgar with a nice view.

Rude could relate.

* * *

"We knew they were mental," Rufus ranted, "but are we sure about this information?"

"We have insider information," Reno reminded him.

The first thing Reno had done after the meeting was go up to tell Rufus the Intel on Avalanche. He had taken it as well as Reno had.

"Right, our spy." Rufus said with a surprising amount of malice in his voice, which Reno didn't understand.

True, Rufus always responded to bad news with anger and he had been that way the entire time Reno had known him. Reno assumed that this morning's bad attitude was primarily to do with losing Tseng. After all, Rufus had known Tseng for longer than Reno had so he must be feeling the pain. They'd never been as close as Tseng and Reno had but even so. Reno tried to be understanding about Rufus's attitude but at the same time was finding it hard to feel too sympathetic towards him. It had been Rufus's bright idea for Tseng to track Sephiroth without backup and while Reno knew that Rufus had never intended for anything bad to happen to him, he still couldn't shake the feeling that if Rufus had been a little more forward thinking, Tseng might not have died.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Reno asked calmly.

"I've noticed our little spy hasn't exactly been the wealth of information we'd hoped him to be. Actually we only learn as much as we do about what is happening _after_ it's actually happened. It's not ideal to say the least."

"Reeve couldn't have prevented what happened at the temple," Reno pointed out.

"It's not just about the temple. I just don't think it's viable anymore. We need his focus back in Midgar. The two damaged reactors are still offline and we need that fixed."

"He's not going to be able to fix them single handedly. It won't make any difference whether he's focusing completely or only partially on his job in Midgar, the techs can only move so fast." It was a lie of a sort. Reno knew that if Reeve had the time he'd be at the reactor sites working on the problem with his own two hands. Having him there would help the techs work faster, but Reno knew Reeve didn't want that.

"I don't really agree. I think your judgment is clouded a little about him," Rufus told him bluntly.

Well, duh. "How do you figure?"

"Oh please Reno, I saw the pair of you last night as I was leaving. I've also heard the rumors, you two are screwing around again and that is not in anyone's best interests considering what happened the last time. This spying thing has obviously pushed you two closer and it's yet another headache I can do without."

Reno took a deep breath and then exhaled very slowly hoping that it would calm him. "You're going to throw away possible intelligence on Sephiroth and Avalanche just because you think it's making me and Reeve spend too much time together? That's a bit of a tantrum isn't it? Rufus, it's none of your fucking business who I go home with at the end of the day. Calling off the mission isn't going to make one bit of difference about how much time I spend with him."

"It's my business if I think it's going to be detrimental to the running of the company. And believe me, having my Head of Urban Development in the hospital or having my Head of Administrative Research go crazy again is disadvantageous - to say the least. You two are very important people now and I can think of hundreds of other people you can safely fuck without too much mental anguish. You will end it, that is an order."

It took Reno a few moments to let that sink in. Rufus had really just told him to break up with Reeve and he hadn't imagined it.

"Um, no."

"Reno, you are not listening."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I heard you the first time."

"You can't say 'no' to an order, Reno. I am your boss!"

"How about I tell you to go fuck yourself instead, is that better?"

By this point in time Rufus was fairly purple. "I can fire you."

"True, but I don't think you will. Tseng's gone, Rufus. I'm Turk Leader. What are you gonna do if I'm gone too? Don't get me wrong, it's not that I think Rude couldn't do the job, but he hasn't been trained for it like I have. You'd be stuck with one Turk unused to leadership and one rookie who still can't shoot straight. Even if times were peaceful and perfect it's not really ideal is it? You need me. And you need Reeve too."

"That doesn't give you the right to demand things."

"Actually, I think it does. And besides, I've just lost a rather important person in my life and I haven't flipped out. You really want me to leave the only thing left in my life that keeps me sane?"

Rufus still looked pretty angry but he managed to ask. "Is it really that important to you?"

"Yes."

"Fine. But if I sense things are changing I will put a stop to it one way or another."

"Whatever. And I don't want you leaning on him about it either. In fact pretend you don't even know."

"More demands?"

"I'd prefer to call it blackmail, actually. Has a more sinister ring to it, don't you think?"

* * *

Surprise of all surprises, Reeve was home when Reno arrived and it was barely past six. Reno had spent most of the day going through files and trying to catch himself up on Tseng's work but had given up after about eight hours of it. He had the distinct and terribly unsurprising feeling that he wasn't ready for this. He wasn't Tseng, he couldn't deal with politics and paperwork and everything else Tseng had seemed to be able to do like it was second nature to him. Thankfully Rude wasn't so bad at the paperwork parts and had been a great help, but the pair of them still had not been able to catch up within those eight hours before both of them had given up and decided to go home and soak their brains in whiskey.

But now that he saw that Reeve had beaten him home, Reno had other plans for the night. He had a rant to finish.

After seeing Reeve's keys and briefcase on the coffee table but not seeing Reeve he threw his jacket over the back of the sofa and made for the bedroom. Reeve was there, sitting on top of the bed, eyes closed. He was off in hero land apparently and for some unknown reason that annoyed Reno. A lot.

It was awkward to watch.

Reeve sat on his bed, legs crossed, eyes closed. He hardly even seemed to be breathing. Occasionally he'd wince, sometimes he'd smile. He winced more often that he smiled though. Was he in pain? What had made him smile? Before now, it had been far too long since the last time he'd seen Reeve smile. And now that he was, Reno knew that it was nothing here that was making him smile. It was them. The terrorists. Reeve's new pals.

And that made it even worse to watch.

But he could do little else. Reno settled down on the bed in front of him to observe Reeve, elbow resting on his knee.

Reeve smiled again. The smile smoothed the lines on his forehead making him look perhaps ten years younger. Reno really didn't like the way Reeve kept smiling like that.

He probably could have let Reeve know he was here. He could have touched him and Reeve would have felt it but he didn't. Reno just sat and watched as Reeve continued to live his fake though possibly happier life until Reeve came back himself.

Reeve blinked for a few moments to get his bearings and then started slightly when he saw Reno sitting on the bed in front of him staring at him with what probably wasn't the most serene expression in the world.

"Reno! You scared me half to death. Why didn't you let me know you were home?"

"You looked happier where you were," Reno told him perhaps a shade too honestly. Reeve wasn't stupid, he could read into that statement. But he seemed to prefer to pretend he didn't.

"I thought you'd have a long day today," he said instead.

"Potentially it would have been longer, but unfortunately for Rufus, I don't care as much about keeping the paperwork as up to date as Tseng does. Did. Rude and I decided to cut our losses for the day and go home. Did you even go into work today?"

"I was on site at the reactors for half the day. But there's nothing left to do until tomorrow when we prep-test the number one for reactivation."

Reno nodded like he understood what the hell Reeve was talking about. All he understood was that the reactors were nearly fixed and Rufus would stop bitching about the power constraints of having two reactors offline.

"Good."

Reeve watched his face carefully. "Then why do you look like I just said I murdered the two noisy children that live down the hall?"

"Actually, I would be smiling if you told me that, not frowning."

Reeve let out a puff of air and leaned back using his arms to hold him up. "This is about the temple again isn't it?"

"I promised I was going to continue my rant, didn't I?"

"You did, but usually your attention span isn't that long so I kind of thought I was going to dodge that bullet. Look, Reno I told you, the note was just an 'in case' I didn't really think I might die. It was just a vague, vague, hardly worth considering possibility."

"Don't forget who taught you how to lie, Reeve. And by the way, you still give yourself away when you look at the ceiling. And your tone sounds too falsely smooth like you're trying to sell me a car that won't make it ten blocks down the street. I told you to watch that."

"Apologies Sensei," Reeve said, smiling. It was just like one of those smiles from before when he'd been working Cait. To see it now aimed at him rather than some hippy in Gongaga melted him a little bit.

"If I lost you, I'd lose it," Reno told him honestly.

"So no pressure then," Reeve replied a little uncomfortably and no longer smiling.

"You think I care how much pressure I put on you to stay alive? If I could convince you the entire world would end if you stopped breathing I would. Feel the pressure Reeve, because you're not allowed to die."

Reeve was trying not to smile again but it was a losing battle. "I get it, no dying. I could say the same for you, you know. You're not allowed either."

"Sure thing, you mind telling Avalanche that though?"

"I wouldn't let them, I hope you realize that."

Reno grinned and moved closer so he sit himself in Reeve's lap, legs tucked up either side of Reeve's. "So the big bad robot cat is gonna save me from the hippies huh?"

"Damn straight," Reeve replied grinning. Reno had sat on him so he at least assumed he was going to get kissed. But Reno stopped halfway through his teasing and got a weird sort of saddened look on his face. Reeve knew what he was thinking.

"They didn't do it Reno. You have to know Avalanche didn't kill Tseng. Sephiroth caught up to him in the temple before we got there. I tried to help him, I swear, but we both knew there was nothing I could do for him. Sephiroth had stabbed him through the chest. It was a wonder he was still alive when we arrived."

Reno frowned but it wasn't because he was displeased. It was a weird sort of expression Reno pulled when something was really getting to him and he was fighting against doing something he thought of as embarrassing like loosing it and crying. He probably spent the next few moments of silence biting the inside of his mouth.

"You were there with him, when he…"

"Yeah. I didn't want to talk to you about this before you left for work. I thought you had enough to deal with."

Reno's frown intensified. "Did he say…anything?"

To see Reno like this was worse than yesterday. Yesterday Reno had been so numb from shock he hadn't really seemed to be able to outwardly express anything. But seeing his face so close, so resolutely not looking at him and trying like hell to not show how upset he was, was heartbreaking for Reeve. He heard his own breath hitch in response.

"He said to give you a message. He said to tell you that he wished he'd never needed you."

Apparently Reno's self control was limited after all. Reeve reached up and wiped the solitary tear off his cheek.

"I know you loved him Reno, I told him that you did." Reeve continued. "I think he regretted what Shinra has done to you. I think he wished you'd been able to live a normal life."

Reeve didn't know if that was what Tseng had truly meant by those last words but it seemed like the right thing to say. Reno seemed out of words and energy. He rested his forehead against Reeve's and closed his eyes. Reeve felt a few warm drops hit his face but he didn't bother to wipe them away.

TBC.

* * *

_Notes: Well that was a big chapter about not a lot in particular other than rearranging the characters a little more. You can expect a big jump time wise for the next chapter because it's moving along way too slowly and I only just finished the first disk in the game and it's taken me almost twenty chapters to do it in. So we're going to fast forward past the Northern Crater for the next one and open up with Meteor next chapter so we can get this moving along a little quicker. Stay tuned…_

_If **anyone** is still reading pls give me a hey or something. I'm beginning to wonder if there is more than two people reading this any more. _

_Hugs_

_AF_


	30. Heroes and Meteors

**What You Do To Me**

**By AF**

**Chapter 30**

Heroes and Meteors

In a way, it was really beautiful. It had been less than a week after Cloud Strife had given to Black Materia to Sephiroth in the Northern Crater when the orange glow had really started to be noticeable in the night sky. Now it was visible even during the day. Instead of clear blue skies, everything was tinted with an evil orange glow. But in all reality it did look rather pretty. It was like a sunset that never went away.

People had panicked at first. Well, people were still panicking a little but the worst of it was over. The riots had stopped and people seemed to be going about their days more or less as usual. Stores were open again and most people went back to work. That was the thing about certain death; it wasn't very scary when it took such a long time to happen. There was nothing imminent about the death Meteor would bring and nobody seemed terribly afraid of gradual painless death.

In addition, its very slowness meant Meteor gave the people of the planet a chance to prepare. It gave Shinra the time it needed to plot out how they were going to save the planet. Or so the population thought; little did they know that while Shinra was all in favor of saving the planet from destruction they hadn't the first clue about how to do it. But Shinra was so powerful and controlled so many things that people just trusted Shinra to fix it.

Go figure.

The night it first showed up, Reno and Reeve stood out on Reeve's balcony and watched the distant glow with a feeling of dread. Reeve grabbed Reno's hand and held it tightly.

After about an hour, Reno got impatient.

"Is this thing gonna kill us or what?"

Reeve simply shrugged. "Eventually, I guess."

After a little more antsy waiting, Reno said, "This is boring. Can't we at least wait for death inside where it's warm?"

Reeve had agreed.

It had probably been stupid to assume that the thing was hurtling toward them so fast that they would die within moments of seeing it, but fear can take you that way. It had taken Shinra days to work out that it would be at least a month before Meteor impacted with the planet. And where there was time to think rationally, apparently there was time for hope.

It was a little surreal still, though. Death was coming and it didn't matter how slowly that might be, there was a constant reminder in the sky that it was on its geriatric way. Reeve opened the huge windows in his apartment and flung back the curtains, allowing the night sky to light up the room. He and Reno spent the night making love while meteor bathed them in its fiery copper glow. With not so imminent death at the window Reno had never felt so alive and in bliss than he had been that night.

He may even have murmured the 'l' word once or twice.

But that was then and now, a couple of days later, Reno was leaving for Junon.

It had become common practice for the pair, one sitting on the bed of an evening watching the other one pack. Reno had been mostly packed when he'd arrived after visiting his apartment, but he'd started to keep a lot of his stuff at Reeve's now and he planned to spend the night here before leaving in the morning. Truth be told, he'd practically moved in. After seeing Meteor in the sky and hearing about the Weapons terrorizing the planet it seemed a little stupid to care about where he kept his stuff. And considering this could be the last month they spent alive, Reno no longer worried about how trustworthy he was. Whether he would hurt Reeve again seemed less important now that they were all going to be crushed under a huge meteorite.

Reno had been in and out of Midgar so often lately anyway that he spent most of his nights sleeping in a rented room. It seemed he only returned to Midgar for a couple of hours, then he was off again. Rufus was trying his hardest and using all Shinra's might and power to hold back the Weapons threatening the continent and every time he left to oversee a battle, Reno went with him as a bodyguard. This time they would be going to Junon, where Sapphire Weapon had last been spotted. Accompanying them was Scarlet who would oversee the execution of the prisoners captured at the Northern Crater.

Needless to say, Reeve had not been happy about that news.

"What will executing them accomplish now?" Reeve asked for maybe the tenth time that night. Reno had heard this before from Reeve, along with a very un-Reeve-like rant in the board meeting earlier in the day.

"It's all for public image I guess. And besides, they did kill a lot of people in those explosions."

This was the first time Reno had really given Reeve his opinion about it. Before he had just muttered, 'Yeah, I know' or 'Bit stupid, isn't it?' in fear that Reeve would get angry if he did do anything other than agree. But apparently Reeve wouldn't let it go so Reno figured he might as well add to his anger.

"You dropped a plate on an entire sector of people, probably killing as many as they did. Does that mean you deserve to die?" Reeve angrily reminded him.

Reno finished with his bag and dropped in onto the bed. He wasn't angry himself, he could see Reeve's point, but he was a little tired from his travels and just wanted some peace for a little while.

"Actually, yeah I do think I should die for that; there's no excuse for what I did. I was given an order and I obeyed it because I'm the Shinra's resident psychotic maniac and because I didn't want someone else to have the burden. But when they blew those reactors they did it of their own free will. Sure, they're trying to save the planet but hey, so are we in our own little and sometimes very fucked up way. I'm not saying killing them is the answer but a lot of people are looking to Shinra for hope and basically I think it's the least we can do for them."

"You can't condone this, surely?"

"I just said I didn't really agree with it. It is pointless and petty and, let's face it, a little cruel. But you asked if I thought I deserved to die for what I have done any less than they do and I told you that I do. Do _you_ think I deserve to die?"

Here Reeve looked a little contrite. "It's like you explained. You were under orders, if you hadn't someone else would have and you'd have prefer to live with the guilt more than someone else. I understand that. But they were only trying to do what they thought was right."

"Yeah, I get it, I am from the slums, you know. I spent the better part of my life being oppressed by Shinra and a whole lot of other assholes who were only ever interested in doing what they thought was right for themselves. I understand the mindset behind it, I sympathize with the shitty things that have bought them to do what they do, but it's never just about the greater good, is it? Nobody ever looks at the problem from the outside and goes, 'You know what, I think I'll help.'" Reno shook his head. "No, it's always for revenge or power or money. …Ok, almost nobody. I can name at least one person who saw where help might be needed and decided to lend a hand just out of the goodness of his own heart."

Reeve looked confused. "If you're talking about Yuffie, I have to tell you that-"

"It's you, you dumbass," Reno interrupted. "You're the only one in this whole mess that is going above and beyond for reasons other than orders, revenge, money or power. Okay sure, you were ordered to spy on them, but you were never ordered to help them or like them. Don't give me that look, you're emotionally invested with them now whether you deny it or not. I can see it. But just as a friendly word of warning, you might want to keep your ranting just between you and me from now on. You don't want Rufus to get suspicious that you don't have his best interests at heart."

"Nothing I do will ever seriously sabotage Shinra."

"Yeah? And I noticed the particularly clever way you worded that statement, too."

"Don't you care about where my interests might lie?" Reeve asked seriously.

"I know you'd never willingly endanger the little people by giving away too many Shinra secrets so why should I care?"

"Aren't you afraid that I'm siding with the enemy?" Reeve persisted.

"Look, at the moment, the only real enemy I can see is Sephiroth, so as long as you don't plan on getting too chummy with him I think we're cool."

Reeve spent a few moments thinking that over while Reno watched him.

"Did you really mean what you said, about my reasons?"

Reno gave him a half smile and walked over to sit on the bed next to him. "I keep telling you you're a good guy, but you never believe me. But I suppose modesty is part of the good guy package too. You know there's a reason I'm so obsessed with you. Don't get me wrong, you're an attractive guy and I could spend all night licking every inch of your awesome body but that's not the reason by far. I've never met anyone like you before, I didn't know people like you ever really existed. You have an honor that I wish more people, myself included had. I and will never for the life of me understand how you ended up working for a company like Shinra."

"Ah, now that _was_ for petty revenge against my father." Reeve was quick to point out apparently trying to bring himself down off the pedestal Reno seemed adamant to put him on.

"So what, one thing you did for a bad reason got you into a shitty situation. See usually people do bad things to get themselves into a better situation. You're like Opposite Man, the only man in the history of the world that karma actually works against. Every time you do a selfish thing you get punished for it even if you don't deserve to be, and every time you try to do something good you don't get rewarded." Reno smiled, "That explains a lot. It certainly explains how you ended up with me."

"You don't give yourself enough credit."

"I think if you try to tell me that I'm a good guy too you might get hit by lightening."

"No, sorry, that wasn't what I was going to say. I know you're not really a 'good guy' in the traditional meaning of the term, but you aren't a bad guy, either, and you so easily could have been considering everything you have to deal with. You really try to be better, Reno, and that counts for more than you can imagine."

"I'm also a liar, a thief and a murderer."

"But you don't enjoy it."

Reno frowned slightly. "Actually I've never told you this, but I kinda do. Don't get me wrong, I don't get some sort of sadistic glee out of causing people pain, but I sort of get a rush out of the power I feel from outwitting someone or something. I like winning."

"I have a theory about that, actually. I think you're a lot smarter than me, than almost anyone I've met."

"Well you obviously haven't met me. I'm Reno, remember? The slum rat with only a basic education and a predisposition to do stupid and foolhardy things for the fun of it, talking to you, Reeve, the university graduate with four degrees "

"I have degrees because my family had the money to send me to school. Education doesn't always denote intelligence. I mean, even Palmer has a few degrees up his sleeve. But I keep forgetting about your lack of education and where you come from because I never get the impression from you that these things limit your intelligence in any way. You've mastered a lot of things in life without the aid of a brilliant education where most others would fail. I mean, how did you even learn how to drive?"

"Most might say that I still can't drive."

"Granted, you don't drive safely, but you can do it. Who taught you how?"

Reno shrugged. "I did. It's generally how I learn how to do most things. Sometimes I need to get someone to show me how to do something but most of the time I teach myself. But that's just what people do."

"Not really," Reeve told him. "You can't just sit down one day and decide you're going to say, play the violin and teach yourself how, that's not generally how it works."

"No, you're right. Tseng had to teach me how to play."

"What?" Reeve asked in surprise. "I was just using that as an example. Do you really know how to play?"

"I didn't mention that?"

"No. How come I've never seen you practicing?"

"Oh well Tseng told me to learn because it would help my focus but he forbade me from playing around other people because he didn't want me to use it as a means of showing off. He said that would defeat the purpose. He taught me lots of things like that, games and things to get me thinking and using my brain. He said if I didn't do it my brain would probably die completely."

Tseng had probably said that as partly truth and partly to mock Reno. But Reeve was hit with an understanding that Tseng realized that Reno's intelligence demanded he be more mentally stimulated or Reno might find more deadly ways of amusing himself like being foolhardy in a dangerous situation just to make it more difficult and therefore interesting.

"Will you play for me one day?"

"Sure, I can give it a go tonight if you like, I think I bought my violin over a couple of days ago in that box of stuff. I haven't practiced in a while, though."

"I'll take my chances. Okay, so back to what I was talking about. I know Tseng didn't teach you how to dig around in the Shinra's computers."

"You're right there, he hates the things. Um, hated. He pretty much showed me how to turn it on and left me to figure it out."

"See, that's just what I mean, people don't teach themselves how to use computers the same way you do. Sure they might teach themselves how to read their emails and use some basic programs but not how to dig around in an intricate system like Shinra's. I had IT classes at school and techs here at Shinra to help me learn and I can't navigate around the archives as well as you can. Face it, if you had the same opportunities in life as I did you'd have probably turned out to be some mad genius or something."

"I noticed you'd still think I'd turn out to be crazy, though."

"Well, school can't help change your natural personality that much." Reeve told him with a mocking smile.

"Hardy fucking har. I suppose Tseng did tell me that I probably only do the crazy shit I do half the time because I'm bored. So you're saying I enjoy my little rush of power because it's giving me an outlet to use my massive undiscovered genius?"

"I'm not sure massive genius is the right phrase here but you are a lot more intelligent than your average person. Though I notice modesty isn't one of your better traits."

"Yeah, but my incredible ass more than makes up for that."

Reeve grinned and laughed softly. "True enough."

"I'm glad you agree," Reno said with a smirk. He leant in to kiss the other man and slowly pushed him backwards onto the bed. Propped up over Reeve, Reno held himself up with one hand and started flicking the buttons of Reeve's shirt open with quick deft fingers. "'Cause you know, I plan on getting absolutely no sleep tonight and I was hoping you would help me out with that."

"That's a favor I'm happy to help with. Can I ask a favor too?"

"Of course."

"I want you to take a package to Junon for me."

Reno stopped what he was doing. "Why? Who's it for?"

"It's for Cait. I need supplies I can't get in Junon. It's not a big deal."

"Is it an order?" Reno asked grinning.

"More like a request."

"You're a good guy Reeve," Reno sighed, "but sometimes you take all the fun out of things."

"You want an order?"

"Yes, please."

"Stop talking and take your clothes off."

Reno's grin widened. "Yes, Sir."

* * *

Rufus could fly a helicopter but he rarely got the opportunity to because whenever he went somewhere there was already somebody else willing to chauffeur him around. So when Reno asked him if he wanted to pilot Rufus jumped at the opportunity. He might not have been so eager if he'd known that Reno just wanted to sleep the whole way after being awake for the entire night before. Rufus really should have known better because these days it wasn't likely that Reno was just doing it to be nice to him.

He also hadn't failed to notice how tired Reeve looked when he'd showed up to do the handover. Scarlet and Heidigar were both coming to Junon with him so it had been either Reeve or Palmer to chose from and there was nobody in their right mind who would leave Palmer in charge of anything more complicated than playdoh.

Of course Reeve was always the best at looking after things while he was away, but dealing with Reeve lately had become tiresome and left an odd bitter taste in his mouth. Reeve had let him down in a lot of ways. His spying mission was apparently still ongoing as long as those of Avalanche who were not captured at the crater were still at large, but he was giving Rufus nothing new. More worrying, Reeve seemed more and more evasive about what Avalanche was currently up to. And then of course there was Reno's untiring devotion to the man, which, even if Reno couldn't see it, was having its own impact at work. Reno, who was now supposed to be overseeing Reeve's mission with Avalanche, wouldn't listen to Rufus's concerns about Reeve and kept defending and his lack of information to the point where Rufus was about ready to order Reeve to bring the robot back to Midgar and be done with the lot of it.

He looked over at Reno now, head back and fast asleep in the co pilot's seat and frowned. Somewhere something had gone very wrong between them and Rufus couldn't help but believe that Reeve was the source of the problem. He was the reason for the fights between the old friends as far as Rufus was concerned.

He sort of missed Reno…

"_You were gone a while this time huh? I sort of missed you."_

Rufus snapped his head back around and looked forward once more. Being reminded of his weird dream at the moment was not what he wanted. The dream to him had been nothing more than a weird glitch in his subconscious. A glitch that had happened at least twice a week since the first time. But this was Reno, not some pretty little bimbo girl like the ones he usually had dreams like that about. Reno had been his friend for years and oh, yeah, he was a guy too.

Okay so even if he could come to terms with that and he was hiding some deep seeded feelings for his friend, why now of all times? Why not when Reno used to play the flirting game with him just to get a rise from him? Why not when they used to spend every other day together goofing off and playing jokes on one another? But of course Rufus felt he didn't have to go far to understand why.

It was Reeve again, wasn't it?

Perhaps all it really had to do with was that Rufus missed his friend's company a bit more than he thought. He was only having these weird sexual thoughts because Reno was having a weird sexual encounter with someone else. The first time they had been together Rufus had really just seen as a glitch for Reno. Reno didn't date people, ever. He slept with them and then went on and slept with someone else. And while he did go back to the same person sometimes with a great deal of regularity, it never seemed to mean that much to him. So the relationship with Reeve had been just something new for him to try, that was all. Reno had probably wanted to sleep with him and Reeve wasn't really the type of person to have one-night stands and then forget about it.

But the second time? Going back for more meant that it meant more to Reno. That Reeve could apparently forgive him was a mystery for a start because not even Rufus had forgiven Reno entirely for what had happened. But going back for seconds always meant that you really liked it the first time around and wanted another taste of it again. And moreover, Reno had admitted to Rufus that he was in love with him too. What the fuck was that all about?

So Rufus figured his brain had concocted some little idea that he could give Reno what he wanted and have him back in his life. That had to be it, right?

Rufus's eyes slid back over to the sleeping form of Reno. It wasn't a terribly attractive pose for anyone to be in with their head back, mouth hanging open and accompanied by the snoring Rufus could hear through the headsets they both wore. His shirt was unbuttoned at the top so that Rufus could see smooth skin from his throat all the way down to his chest and…

Rufus snapped his eyes forward again and glared at the scenery in front of him. Okay, so maybe missing his company wasn't all there was to it after all.

Damnit.

* * *

Reno waited in the dark recesses of the alleyway and yawned widely. The trip from Midgar to Junon barely took two hours and two hours of sleep wasn't enough to refresh him after the night before. Reno grinned at the memory, it had been well worth the tiredness he felt today. No doubt Reeve was at Shinra, head on his desk and snoring loud enough to annoy his co-workers…or maybe not.

He saw a big shadow make its way down the alley toward him until Reno could make out the details of Cait on his mog.

"How are you not unconscious right now?" Reno asked with some surprise.

"It's weird," Cait replied with a surprisingly expressive grin, "I can still work this thing when I'm practically asleep. It takes a little mental energy but it's not like my real body is doing anything so it can rest up while Cait goes to work."

"You bastard, that's so unfair."

The little robot cat shrugged, "You were the one who wanted to stay up all night when you had a mission today. You have nobody to blame but yourself."

Reno stifled another yawn. "You're still a bastard."

Cait laughed. "Anyway, I just came to get the package and go. Sorry, but I don't really have the time to chat. Thanks for bringing it by the way."

Reno handed the small brown wrapped parcel over to Cait.

"What is it anyway? Spare parts for the robot?"

Cait set the package down in front of him on the mog's head. "You didn't look?"

"Why would I?" Reno asked, surprised.

"No reason, I guess. It's just something I needed from Midgar, that's all. You were coming anyway so I figured you wouldn't mind dropping it off."

"I had to leave Rufus with Junon security watching him so he's not real happy with me. I notice you still aren't telling me what it is."

"There's a good reason for that," Cait answered evasively. "I don't want to lie to you."

"But you don't want to tell me what it is either? It's not spare parts, is it?" Reno asked with a sinking feeling.

Cait shook his head.

"Fuck me, Reeve, what the hell have you got me helping you do exactly? Because you are here, can I assume that the other members of Avalanche are here too?"

"You don't have to and I never said they were."

Reno saw right through what he meant straight away. "The bunch of them really are mentally retarded aren't they? And I'm starting to have real doubts about your intelligence, too. Hasn't it occurred to you that this is exactly what Rufus and Scarlet want? They think that Cloud Strife is going to swing in and save his friends from their very public execution so they can get him too."

"I'm not an idiot, Reno. And besides, Cloud isn't here, you have my word on that. Please don't ask anymore questions, I can't tell you any more."

Reno sighed and rubbed his tired eyes with his fingers. "You do understand that you're Shinra's spy, don't you, Reeve? You understand what that means, right? You're supposed to report this kind of shit. If Rufus finds out you knew what was going to happen and didn't say anything…"

"I have it under control, Reno. You must trust me."

"I trust you will a lot of things, Reeve, but I realize your own safety is not one of them."

"You can't tell them," Cait pleaded. "You were the only one I could trust to help me."

Reno shook his head and sighed. "You're killing me."

"I'll make it up to you I promise. I'll do _anything_ you want, just keep this to yourself okay?"

"I would've thought using sex to get what you want was beneath you. And flirting with me when you are a two foot tall robot cat doesn't really do it for me, I gotta say."

With some asperity, Cait replied, "Frankly, I'm surprised that when I said 'anything' you didn't fold, considering what a dirty mind you have."

"Well, I'm surprised you promised 'anything' knowing what a wide and full imagination I have. When I get home I want there to be rope, candles, matches and chocolate in the house, understand? Just you remember that anything Cait promises me a certain six foot three dark haired meek Shinra executive has to come good on."

"Rope?" Cait asked uncertainly.

"Yes Reeve, for sedition against Shinra you owe me rope."

"Holy shit."

* * *

"Is everyone here?" Scarlet took a look around the room at the assembled press and nodded to herself. "These are the ones who bought this madness to the world!"

Several of the cameramen in the room focused their cameras on the two Avalanche members present who were looking on in vague bewilderment. It was as if they couldn't quite believe was what about to happen to them.

"The hell are these people?" Barret asked the room in general.

Scarlet smiled at the two prisoners; she didn't seem to mind being interrupted.

Cait who was sitting in the front row hidden under a large coat and a hat just glared at Scarlet.

"We will be broadcasting your miserable deaths live on television."

In his chosen guise as a reporter, Cait stepped forward, careful to keep the hat low. He was hoping that Scarlet just thought he was just some big reporter wanting to get her valuable comments rather than a friend of the criminals trying to get closer and ready himself for action.

"Scarlet, why a public execution in this day and age?" Cait asked. He figured it also wouldn't hurt to possibly make Scarlet look like a fool on TV, either.

But Scarlet seemed pleased with the question. She stepped away from the podium and walked toward the heavy metal door at the back of the room. Reeve knew what it was, it was the gas chamber Scarlet had designed for Junon to execute their most dangerous criminals.

"With the chaos resulting from the Meteor reports, we desperately need to rally public support…it's better that we punish somebody, anybody."

Cait blinked in surprise. He could not believe she had just admitted in front of the press. But of course even Scarlet knew that anything that was recorded would be edited by Shinra before it went to air. She could say whatever she wanted and her comments were probably more to anger the two prisoners rather than for the press.

"You make me sick…" Tifa muttered.

Scarlet just laughed at her. "They'll never admit it," Scarlet told Tifa so quietly that the only reason Cait's audio sensors caught it was because he was at the very front of the room. "But everyone loves this stuff!" She pointed to Tifa, telling the troopers accompanying the prisoners, "We'll start with this girl."

Barret started to struggle against his bonds. "If you've gotta do it…do me first!" He yelled at Scarlet.

"Camera, this way!" Scarlet exclaimed. "Make sure you get this, the audience just eats up tearful goodbyes!"

_What a bitch._ But Reeve already knew that. He'd worked with the woman for years now and while she could turn on the sweetness when she wanted to, Reeve understood that Scarlet only had one person's best interests always in her thoughts and that was her own. She was only ever nice to people when they could offer her power, money or sex.

He watched Tifa as she was pushed into the gas chamber and the robot was fairly twitching with Reeve's want to intercede -but doing something now wouldn't help. He hadn't expected there to be so many troopers present and if he tried anything he'd be caught too quickly to do either of his friends any good.

Wait…his what? The robot stilled its shaking as Reeve let that thought sink in. The more he thought about it the more it made sense to him. He cared about these people and he cared deeply about what might happen to them in a way he didn't really share with a lot of other people. Sure he had friends at Shinra and he cared about them too, but it made him sick to think that one of Avalanche might die because Rufus wanted to prove a point and Scarlet felt like going on a power trip. They really were his friends. So he needed to do this right; otherwise he wouldn't be able to save either one of them.

But what he most needed was a distraction. And that should be happening at any…

As if on cue the emergency lights started flashing above his head. Over the loud speakers came the announcement:

"Emergency! Emergency! Weapon's approaching! Attention all military personnel; take your positions!"

Cait almost laughed. He'd spent weeks planning this and this was how it was going to happen. The other members of Avalanche, strategically placed around Junon, were supposed to provide the distraction at the appointed time but apparently Weapon had beaten them to the punch. Oh well, so much for his carefully thought out plans.

People were panicking and running out of the room. Only two guards stayed behind with Scarlet but the rest had fled. Well, Reeve supposed his odds weren't going to get any better than they were now.

"Hey, hey, all of you! Damn, why now?" Scarlet exclaimed.

Cait walked the mog up to Scarlet, still keeping the hat low.

"How does it feel now, Scarlet?"

Scarlet looked at him, or rather she looked at the hat. "Hmm, so you didn't run? I'm impressed. How do I feel? Right now…"

Cait pushed the canister he was holding out from underneath his disguise and depressed the button on top. With the sound of escaping gas, Scarlet looked very surprised for a moment before dropping to the floor.

"Huh? Sleeping gas?"

Cait dragged off the disguise and gave the hat a toss. The surprised guards weren't ready for the attack. Cait hit one guard with enough force to the side of the head to knock him out and managed to smack the other one too before he was able to get over his surprise enough to bring his gun up to bear. Barret further helped the second guard into unconsciousness by hitting him in the back of the neck with his bound hands.

After the quick fight Barret gave Cait a shocked look.

"I'm here to help!" Cait told him obviously.

"Why you…? Ain't you part of Shinra?"

"Let's just say I'm against capital punishment. Besides…I hate this broad." He added looking down at a sleeping Scarlet with a smirk. "Come on, we gotta help Tifa."

* * *

_Notes: So Reeve once and for all seems to have sided with Avalanche and no doubt there might be some repercussions of that decision when Rufus gets back to Midgar. And wouldn't Rufus just love an excuse to tear him a new one by this point. _

_Thanks for the reaffirmation that I still do have an audience. I wouldn't have stopped anyway, how could I at this point lol? But I really appreciate knowing people are still following, you have no idea! By the way, I will be re-writing Would You Scare Me Again the first part to Monsters in the future with a few little differences to make it easier to read and slightly longer too. But not until a few other projects are finished so not for a good few months yet. _

_Hugs_

_AF_


	31. Bad Spy!

**What You Do To Me**

**Chapter 31**

**Bad Spy!**

When Reno returned to Midgar he wasn't a happy Turk. He'd heard about what had happened to the prisoners while he had been in the command center during the attack on Junon by a Weapon. Of course Reeve hinted at his plan, but Reno was still pretty pissed about it all. He couldn't believe Reeve had actually gone ahead and been a part of something like that and moreover, used him to help.

When he got home later the next evening Reno seriously contemplated going back to his apartment rather than Reeve's just so he didn't walk in and start a fight. Also because for once he felt really justified in any complaint he had against Reeve. It was one thing to sympathize with the enemy; it was another thing to openly plot against Shinra and attack one of their most prominent employees.

Even if it was Scarlet.

But his apartment was not really an option anymore. It was almost entirely cleaned out of any comforts at the moment and what Reno really needed right now was comfort. And what ticked him off even more was that's what he generally went to Reeve's for. But he had no food at home, no booze and his neighbors were noisy and his heating didn't work and his TV was busted…so instead he found himself unlocking the door to Tseng's old apartment.

He didn't know why but he'd never really gotten around to cleaning it out except for anything in the fridge that might spoil. Everything else was exactly as Tseng had left it and Reno had been keeping up the bills until he could figure out what to do. It was a rental, so he didn't have to worry about getting it sold off or anything but Tseng had accumulated a lot of expensive and interesting things over the years and Reno just hadn't been able to bring himself to go through it all.

Occasionally he would get the urge to do it, come over and get out a box but stop short of packing. Instead he would pour himself a drink, sit on the expensive leather couch and listen to the sad orchestral whining that Tseng had thought of as music. After a couple of hours Reno would give up and go home without getting anything done but feeling a lot calmer all the same.

But this time it didn't seem to work. A drink, a few minutes of horrible music and Reno felt just as annoyed as when he'd arrived.

"I don't know what to do," Reno told the room in general. "Rufus is so pissed at him I don't know if flat out denying knowing what was going to happen will help him this time.

"He used me to help him and I know he kept details of it from me because he thought he would be protecting me but he would have been better off either leaving me completely in the dark or telling me everything because now I have to keep his secrets which would be okay if I knew for sure what he was doing was the right thing to do.

"Rufus has turned into such a different person by this point that I don't know what he might do if he learns the truth. And if he decides to do something drastic I will protect Reeve and people will get hurt.

"These days Rufus is all ego and power and very little understanding and compassion. Okay, he never had much compassion in the first place, but he doesn't see things through human eyes anymore. He sees what he thinks he should have and how things are supposed to happen for him and believes it is all his for the taking and doesn't think about consequences and impact. Who would have thought that the only thing keeping the humanity in him was his asshole of a father? Anyway, I can't talk to him much anymore and that's troubling to say the least.

"And then there's Meteor, which while is an interesting conversation piece, is getting ever closer and we still don't have a plan of attack yet. People of the world think Shinra will save them and we can't come up with a single fucking idea.

"I feel useless and wretched and angry and tired and I'm not cut out for this. Tseng, what the fuck was going through your mind when you thought I could handle _anything_?"

The empty apartment didn't offer any insights for him and Reno sighed and got to his feet. He had calmed down a little after ranting at Tseng's ghost for a few minutes. Maybe he would be safe around Reeve now.

* * *

Reeve was working at his desk when Reno came in. Reeve smiled widely when he saw him and was halfway out of his seat when he noticed the expression Reno hadn't been aware was on his face.

Frowning, Reeve slowly got the rest of his way to his feet . Unfortunately he next said something that didn't help Reno's new calm. "What? You're pissed about this, seriously?"

Oh where to start. An even "Yes," seemed like a good beginning.

"What did you expect me to do?" Reeve asked.

"Tell me what was going to happen."

They were slowly walking toward each other and though Reeve looked more confused than angry it was a close call. "You would have had to tell Rufus. Then they would have been caught and it would all have been for nothing."

"Yes, if Rufus knew they would probably have all been caught. If you had asked me not to tell him, though, I would have done as you asked."

"I wouldn't do that to you. I don't want to test your loyalties. I was trying to protect you!"

"And what about protecting yourself? It's lucky Scarlet is a moron because she hasn't put two and two together and realized the person that gassed her was you. But Rufus isn't stupid, I worked it out and so will he and he'll know you were involved. I assume that was the gas I bought to you in Junon."

Reeve nodded.

So the calm was gone. "Reeve, what the fuck!"

"Calm down, Avalanche have a better chance of helping here being free rather than being locked up or killed."

"Who knows, maybe they do, maybe they'll make things worse I don't actually give a fuck! But they will get in the way of us trying to help, I know that much. Whatever, even that I can deal with. But the next time you want to use me like that, you have to tell me _everything_."

"So what, you'll help me or tell on me?"

"As if you have to ask." Reno answered dismissively.

"You say that, but what if you think you know better than I do? What if you think telling Rufus whatever I tell you is in my best interests? I know you'll always do what you think is best for me, but that's not always the right thing. You seem to think I'm a naive little boy sometimes compared to you because of all you've been through and I'm just some guy from a rich family with an office job. You're not some all knowing king of common sense Reno, _anybody_ could tell you that."

They were face to face now, both a little red and both pretty angry.

"Oh and you are just because you've been playing hero with your fake friends in your fake body? Do they even trust you, knowing that you are Shinra?"

"They followed my plan to help Tifa and Barret escape, didn't they?" Reeve answered with an uncharacteristically smug look.

"That was your plan? Great, it's not enough that your helping them and keeping secrets from me but you're masterminding their plans to defeat Shinra now? What's next, are you going to help them start to pick us off? Will you help them kill me the next time they try?"

"How could you even think that! You know I would never betray you."

"You used me Reeve, what am I supposed to think?"

"I was trying to protect you!"

"That's what you say but-"

Reeve cut him off mid-sentence by grabbing him and kissing him fiercely. It was so unexpected and so forceful that Reno found himself backed up against a wall in a matter of seconds.

Not that Reno cared. By that point, demanding hands and lips were all over him and thinking was becoming more and more difficult.

"I love you and you have to trust me," Reeve growled at him. "I would never let them hurt you again." He actually still sounded angry but was doing his best to drive his point home.

Reno decided to let him. But not without his own counter-argument.

* * *

Reno was the first to wake up the next morning to the alarm Reeve habitually set so the pair didn't oversleep. And Reno hadn't failed to notice the annoying little clock had been placed by his side of the bed, either.

He rolled over and flung out an arm to silence the alarm's cheerful chirping and immediately regretted the move. Reno managed to stop the alarm but he wasn't sure if the pain he'd woken up in his shoulder and back muscles had been worth it.

"Ow."

He felt Reeve stir beside him as he stretched upon waking and heard his 'ow' echoed in much the same tone he'd used.

"Feeling poorly?" Reno muttered sarcastically into his pillow.

"Yes," was the pained reply.

"Let that be a lesson to you."

"If last night was my punishment for being bad I should do it more often," Reeve told him attempting to stretch again carefully but failing miserably. "Maybe."

Reno made himself sit up slowly on the edge of the bed but not without swearing quietly to himself a few times. He rubbed the side of his face and found an imprint of the rope he'd been laying on that was still attached to the leg of the bed from last night. Ah yes, that had been round two. At least Reeve had been a good boy in some respects, he'd followed Reno's request of household supplies down to the letter.

"I don't think I can move," Reeve informed him.

Reno chuckled at that. "Lightweight. Haven't you ever had angry sex before?"

"No."

"Oh, well, welcome to the club."

Reno got up and stood in one spot for a little while rolling his shoulders and willing the tiredness and aching out of his muscles. He heard Reeve moving around behind him but didn't look around. The fact of the matter was that he was a little embarrassed about last night. He'd never done anything like that with anyone he cared about and he was a little disturbed that Reeve saw that side of him. He briefly wondered how Reeve felt about him this morning.

As if reading his mind Reeve got up too and Reno felt arms slide around his waist, a warm body press up against his back and a chin rested on his shoulder.

"So, are we still fighting or did we take care of that already?"

Reeve seemed a little too blasé about it all for Reno's expectations.

"I'm still a little angry, if that's what you are asking."

Reeve sighed and moved his head to kiss the side of Reno's neck. "I thought you might be. So what happens now, you want some time?"

Reno frowned for a moment not understanding what Reeve was saying at first. When he did realize he gripped Reeve's arms tightly. "You think I want to break up with you?"

"You've been more angry with me lately than happy," Reeve pointed out.

"Fuck that!" Reno turned in his arms a placed a deliberate kiss on his lips. "I don't want time, Reeve. I just want you to use your brain a little more. And I sure as shit don't want to break up. How in the gods names would I convince you to take me back a third time?"

Reeve gave him a lopsided smile in response. "Good point."

"Funny," Reno said sarcastically.

* * *

"Needless to say the execution didn't go as planned in Junon," Rufus told the room in general. But Reeve had the distinct and uncomfortable impression that when Rufus's eyes scanned the room they got a little colder as they meet his before moving on again.

Reno had been right, Rufus wasn't an idiot and he'd worked it out. Even if he hadn't the fact that a rescue had been obviously planned and Reeve hadn't told him one thing about it would have been enough to land him in some very deep shit. And what made it worse was that when he shifted uncomfortably in his chair and his eyes flicked over to Reno, who as Turk Leader was now present for most meetings, Reno was giving him this knowing slightly angry 'I told you so' look. He'd obviously caught Rufus's glare too.

Great. Just great.

Rufus was still talking but Reeve wasn't paying as much attention as he probably should have till Rufus mentioned something Reeve didn't expect.

"…and the fact that the Turks will be out in the field for the week will make it harder. But more troopers will be bought in from Junon to pick up the slack. Of course seeing as the Turks lost their track on Avalanche means that we will have to lean on other possible sources of information until we can find out what they are up to."

Heidegger then went on to ask Rufus why they were bothering with Avalanche anymore but he missed what was said because his attention snapped back toward Reno, who had failed to mention he would be leaving Midgar yet again, for a week no less, just when it might seem like Reeve could do with the backup. But upon seeing Reno's bewildered expression Reeve realized that Reno must have been hearing about this for the first time, too. Okay, so he was less upset with Reno but a lot more worried about what that might mean for him.

When the meeting was over Rufus called for the pair of them to hang back which made Reeve even uneasier. Had Rufus somehow worked out that Reno had helped him in Avalanche's escape? What the hell had he just done?

Whatever Reeve was thinking though, his fears were evidently not shared by Reno who immediately leaned back in his chair once the others had filed out and put his feet up on the table.

"Don't suppose you were going to mention this little field trip the Turks are taking to the actual Turks were you?"

Rufus frowned at Reno's feet on the table but seemed to fight the temptation to tell him to remove them. "I would have mentioned it sooner but it was only just decided on this morning."

"By who?" Reno asked.

"By me!" Rufus snapped at him. "Who else do you think was finally going to grant you permission to go to Wutai?"

In Reno's surprise, he sat up dropping his feet back to the floor in the process. "Seriously?"

"Yes. All three of you will be granted a week to go out there though I feel I must remind you due to the current situation, you could be recalled at any time. So I don't suggest dawdling with anything important you want to get done out there."

Reeve knew Reno had put in for time off for all three Turks to make the trip out to Wutai with Tseng's ashes, but neither of them had expected it to happen any time soon. The Turks were in high demand for their services even when they weren't in the middle of a crisis. Reno had practically assumed that it might just end up being a job for two Turks in a couple of month's time, assuming the world was still here. But for Rufus to grant his request during a time like this, and for all three Turks no less, was astounding to Reeve. He could tell Reno was just as shocked from the openly surprised look on his face.

But Reno being Reno, the surprise didn't last long before it was overtaken by more suspicion. "Why now of all times?"

"You might not have noticed this Reno, but the world could be coming to an end." Rufus told him sarcastically. "Just be thankful you are getting the chance for this. The sooner you three can leave the better, though. Today actually."

Considering Reno had only just gotten home last night Reeve wasn't real thrilled about the news. But he knew this was important to Reno and wouldn't dare say anything to him that might make Reno feel bad about leaving.

"Uh, tomorrow would be better." Reno told him.

"Not for me. Go round up your Turks."

But Reno hadn't shifted. He was looking up at Rufus expectantly.

"Too subtle for you Reno? You're dismissed. I need to talk to Reeve in private."

"Why, it's only about Cait isn't it?"

Rufus frowned at him. "What gave you that impression?"

Reno shrugged casually. "What else can't you talk to Reeve about at work without the other board members listening in? And since I'm overseeing the mission I'd rather hear this now rather than later."

You had to give Reno something; he sure did have a smooth way of getting what he wanted. Doubtless Reno knew Rufus was about to chew Reeve out over the failed executions and Reno being there might diffuse the situation somewhat. Reeve was incredibly thankful for that.

Rufus scowled at him but just said, "Whatever," like it didn't really matter. He turned his anger at the situation toward Reeve. "I think you already know what I want to talk to you about," he said evenly.

He tried to keep his eyes off the ceiling and his voice less persuasive just as Reno had taught him when he replied. "I didn't know they were planning anything like that until it was too late to tell you."

"You expect me to believe that, do you?"

"Yes, of course I do. Why wouldn't you believe me?"

Apparently Rufus hadn't been expecting that answer and it seemed to throw him for a moment.

"They keep me in the dark a lot," Reeve pressed on. "They know I'm a spy so they use me as much as I use them."

"Really? Because I get the idea they are getting more benefit from the deal than we are."

"I tried to call but by the time I knew what they wanted me to do the Weapon had attacked Junon and the phone lines were down."

Rufus glanced at Reno who had been watching Reeve with a rather intense look on his face. When Reno noticed Rufus's glance he just nodded.

"That's true. The lines between Midgar and Junon are still down, actually. The techs tell me it's going to be another couple of days before the transmitter gets repaired."

Reeve had known this. He'd asked Yuffie to make sure the lines went down at the right time. He'd stressed to her that it had to look like anything other than sabotage and it seemed as though the girl had done the job well. As far as Shinra were concerned it was damage taken during the attack. That part of the plan Reeve hadn't shared with Reno.

"Rufus," Reeve continued. "If I thought I had any information for you that could have helped the greater good, I would have told you. I'm surprised you would think otherwise."

He wasn't lying, Reeve just didn't let Rufus in on what he personally thought was the greater good in all this. Reno wasn't so blinded, though, and the look he gave Reeve while Rufus wasn't watching was best described as half pleased, half really annoyed.

Wrapped up in angry need to blame someone, Rufus needed the reminder of their past friendship seemed to cool him off a little. "Okay, fine. Where are they now?"

"Traveling," Reeve told him knowing the news was going to annoy Rufus and pretending as though it annoyed him as well. "They're searching for something but they won't tell me what."

"I don't suppose there is _any_ information we can actually use?"

"Cloud Strife isn't with the group, as I told you before. He's been missing since the incident at the Northern Crater. To be honest I'm not sure how much of a threat they pose to us without his leadership. If he is dead, as I'm beginning to believe, it might be an end to the mission. I should know within the coming week and make my report on their intentions."

There was nothing in that report that Rufus already didn't know, but Reeve tried to make it sound like he had a plan in mind for the good of Shinra and Rufus nodded in agreement as he dismissed the pair of them.

Once they were heading back toward the elevator Reno leaned in a muttered quietly, "I don't know whether I am proud of you or whether I'm more angry with you. That was slick, but don't think for a minute you've allayed all his suspicions."

"Yeah, I get that." Reeve muttered back. In a normal tone he said, "I can't believe you're leaving again. For a week, this time."

They entered the elevator and Reno casually reached up and unplugged the camera as he stepped inside so they couldn't be watched or overheard.

"As much as I'd like to think Rufus is doing this for me or Tseng or even the rest of the Turks, I can't really believe it. He's getting rid of me for a while."

"That's a little pessimistic isn't it?" Reeve replied pressing the button for his floor.

As the elevator started to move Reno flipped the emergency stop and the elevator stopped moving. "You think I've survived here so long on my unwavering optimism alone?" he asked sarcastically.

"You don't think this has anything to do with me, do you?"

"I don't know, maybe. I'm probably overreacting. Maybe Rufus just is being nice and it is just for the reasons he told us. But whatever the reasons it means you'll be reporting directly to him and you won't have me here to put bullshit spins on your mission reports like I've been doing to appease him. If he decides you're not being totally truthful with him I won't be here to…look out for you."

"You mean protect me." Reeve replied a little coldly.

"Don't get all threatened. I just don't think you realize what Shinra are capable of when you start doing things against them. Don't forget two of your friends were almost gassed yesterday because they wanted to do the right thing. I just want you to be smart about this and keep Avalanche out of trouble 'til I get back, that's all I ask."

Reeve was less than happy by the notion that he couldn't look after himself for one week, but realistically he knew Reno was right. "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

Reno restarted the lift and gave him a brief but heartfelt kiss before the elevator arrived at Urban Development. "See you in a week."

* * *

Reeve opened his eyes and took a deep breath. It had been one hell of a day and he was so exhausted all the wanted to do was lay down and sleep. At the same time, he couldn't help the grin that formed on his face whenever he thought about what had just happened in the last hour or so.

They'd found Cloud. He'd been washed up by the Lifestream in Mideel of all places and was currently in the hospital there. His condition was nothing to grin about, though. He was out of it, a complete vegetable, and that lost Reeve's smile pretty quickly.

Working around reactors so much, Reeve understood what mako poisoning did to a person. And considering the doses Cloud had it was a miracle he was even alive right now. Still, Cloud had been in Soldier, right? Soldier were given doses of mako in order for them to withstand the Jenova enhancements. Normally you would think that already having mako in his system would mean he would be in a worse state but having already been exposed to it previously should mean that he was more resilient to any further treatments. The way Reeve understood it, it was like any poison, being exposed to small doses of it over time should develop a sort of immunity to the effects. Obviously Cloud wasn't immune to mako poisoning, but he should have a higher tolerance for it than the average person.

He'd wanted to tell Tifa and the others about this knowledge, that Cloud had a good chance of surviving what was happening to him, but he hadn't. For one thing, they had no reason to believe him. They didn't know who he was exactly and therefore didn't know of his experiences with mako and that was a fact Reeve hadn't been sure about revealing just yet. And for another thing, he wasn't positive about his theories either and didn't want to offer false hope when Cloud may well stay a vegetable for the rest of his life. So until he knew for certain, Reeve thought he might as well keep his thoughts to himself.

On the bright side, he had been able to help in some small way. He was getting good and being both Cait and himself simultaneously lately. Rufus had called a meeting and Reeve had been able to let Avalanche in on what was happening.

The Huge Materia created inside the reactor cores due to a build up of mako energy were going to be used in Rufus's new shiny plan to attack Meteor. Mako bombs weren't unheard of, but Reeve understood them to be unstable and unpredictable at the best of times. Whether Rufus's plan had any merit to it, he didn't know, but he'd decided he'd needed another opinion on the subject and Reno was still in transit to Wutai and would be hard to reach for a little while yet. So he figured Avalanche should know what was happening, give them a chance to stop it if they thought the plan was a bust or give them a chance to help if they thought Rufus's idea might work.

Of course Barret, hearing that Shinra were taking one of the materia pieces from the Corel reactor, had only one thing in mind, and that was to stop Shinra at all costs from doing anything, helpful or otherwise. So the plan was set, they were going to take the Huge Materia from Shinra and use it to further their own mission to take down Sephiroth. Not really what Reeve had been aiming for, but Rufus's plan had the hints of desperation to it that made Reeve believe it was less solid, well thought out idea and more last ditch effort to make it look as though Shinra had a plan, any plan, to save the planet.

Oh well, it was out of his hands now. He could either help his friends do what they thought was right or help Rufus attempt to save face. It wasn't really a hard decision.

_TBC_


	32. Allies For A Day

_AN: I should probably have mentioned this a while ago, but there is dialogue and game description in this and a few other chapters here that is obviously not my work. I have referenced these scenes and descriptions from the actual game so some of it is obviously not all my work but please don't sue me because the amount of money I have would not be worth even contemplating sending me a very nasty note. This is purely for fan entertainment_

**What You Do To Me**

**Chapter 32**

**Allies For A Day.**

So far getting the first two pieces of materia had been relatively easy. With Cid in charge of Avalanche they'd gone to Corel and stopped the train and then to Fort Condor to stop the Shinra troops from getting to the condor and the reactor beneath it. So many heroic achievements buoyed Reeve up in a way that he hadn't felt for a while and definitely not since Reno had been away. He actually caught himself strutting just a little down the hallway in his department before he'd shaken his head at his own behavior.

And now, Cloud was back. Not just found and alive, but back in the land of moving and talking and Reeve felt even happier about his life. Unfortunately Cloud's recovery wasn't something he could keep from Rufus. Taking the huge materia from Shinra both times had put Rufus in a foul mood, to understate things just a bit. Reeve had been careful in his reports to Rufus about what Avalanche were doing; only reporting things when Rufus wasn't in a position to stop them.

He'd told Rufus about the train in Corel so Rufus had just enough time to give the train an armed escort but not enough time to really mount much of a counter attack. And he'd flat out told Rufus well before the attack on Fort Condor that Avalanche were involved because both sides had an army anyway and Rufus wasn't about to send in more just because the other side suddenly had eight more fighters. It was a drop in the bucket really by that point. So he'd managed to keep Rufus informed just enough to keep his own ass out of the fire without endangering Avalanche while he continued to feed them real information and help them as much as he could.

But late or vague information couldn't really help him where Cloud was concerned. News would travel fast once he was spotted with Avalanche again and Reeve couldn't pretend to be ignorant of his return. So not really knowing what would happen, Reeve informed Rufus, who purpled with rage and banged his fist on his desk. And then Reeve called Reno in Wutai. He simply muttered, "Fucking brilliant' then gone on to ask him what he was wearing.

Both men had handled it a lot better than Reeve anticipated. And now that Cloud was back, it gave him a good reason to stay with the group and continue to 'spy' on them.

All in all, Reeve was pretty pleased with how things were going. Until that morning's board meeting when Rufus had announced that Reeve and Scarlet were heading to Junon.

"You want to relocate the cannon?" Reeve asked for clarification.

"Yes. Intelligence tells me that a blast by the cannon at the crater powered by every reactor in Midgar might destroy Sephiroth and avert disaster." Rufus told him, smirking smugly.

Reeve shouldn't have done it, he knew it wasn't the smart thing to say as soon as the words came out of his mouth but by then it was too late to take back. "Intelligence? Whose exactly?"

"You know the most about the reactors Reeve, you don't think this will work?"

It was a good question. "I'd have to run a few numbers. But I'm pretty sure the cannon wasn't meant to take that kind of a charge. Not to mention our reactors here in Midgar aren't set up for that kind of thing."

"Then you have your work cut out for you eh?" Rufus replied simply.

"You're all dismissed. Scarlet, Reeve, I want you to head out first thing tomorrow."

Everyone got out of their chairs and headed out of the room. On the way out, Scarlet slid her arm through his and gave him a charming smile. "Don't worry Reeve, my equipment can handle anything you give it."

Reeve fought the urge to roll his eyes. "If you say so."

Scarlet chuckled and let go of his arm. "See you for takeoff tomorrow!"

* * *

"…What a drag."

Reno didn't even look at the Shinra Trooper hovering near their table. He didn't want to deal with this, not today. It was only the second day of their leave. The three of them had gotten into town late last night and today, well, today he and Rude decided to spend the morning in the bar before they trekked up the mountain later in the evening with the ashes. Elena apparently didn't appreciate whiskey for breakfast though and had been sitting by impatiently watching the two drink the morning away.

And now this, of all things.

"Ww, what was that…?" The Trooper spluttered.

Reno spoke very clearly and concisely at the tabletop in front of him. "Right now we're off duty and can't run off to save your butts."

"We know you're off duty, but…"

"If you knew that, then don't bother us! Lookin' at you is makin' me sober."

Reno wasn't a terribly scary guy to look at, this he knew. But anyone that had worked with him before, like this trooper, had knew that looks weren't everything. He seemed pretty nervous annoying Reno like this. Unfortunately the other trooper hadn't had the pleasure yet.

"But you all have orders from headquarters to look for him too," the second trooper pointed out smugly.

Well, he'd learn soon enough. Sooner if he didn't get the hell out of here now. Reno just casually took another gulp of his drink.

"All right, that's it! We'll get him without any help from the Turks, just you see! And don't think that headquarters isn't going to hear about this!"

Reno rolled his eyes at Rude. The 'him' they were referring to was Don Corneo who'd run from Midgar soon after he'd sold Shinra out to Avalanche for obvious reasons. Strictly speaking tracking him down was not a Turk assignment, Reno had never even spared a thought to the missing scumbag having bigger world issues to deal with. Still the trooper had been right, Reno was technically under orders to apprehend him if the situation presented itself. But the troopers were the ones here tracking the bastard, and basically Reno couldn't be fucked bothering with it all. Not today.

The troopers left, but Elena was giving him an unbelieving look. "Reno, do you think that was really such a good idea? I mean is that the way a professional, a Turk would act?"

Reno looked at her. "Elena, don't misunderstand. A pro isn't someone who sacrifices himself for his job. That's just a fool."

Rude gave him a look over the top of his shades, but Reno refused to meet his eyes.

"Rude?" Elena tried.

Rude stopped looking at Reno but he didn't back Elena up, either.

Elena huffed and stood up. "Well, I don't buy that! Goodbye."

Reno watched her run out of the bar after the troopers. Rude watched her go too with an expression that told Reno he wished he'd gone after her.

"Relax." Reno told him. "She's not a child. Let her have her way now."

Rude was still watching the door and did so for a full ten minutes. Reno sighed.

"Fine, let's go."

It took a while to find out where Elena went and even less time for the troopers to inform them what had happened in Lord Godo's house. Elena had been kidnapped by the sick freak. Great, just great. Reno might dump on Elena sometimes, but he'd been pretty surprised she'd been caught so easily or so quickly. But she had and it was done and now he and Rude had to get her back.

Reno knew Corneo, knew what he would do to a captive woman and also knew that if he touched Elena in any wrong way the pervert would be picking bits of his lungs out of his asshole for a week. And that was the G rated version. If Rude got a hold of him, it would be much worse.

Either way, the troopers were useless. Reno dismissed them as soon as they'd reported. The Turks would be better off doing this on their own.

And now, of all the people to run into…

Reno had been trying to avoid something like this. Of course they would have to run into Avalanche here. He couldn't normally catch up to the merry band of do-gooders if he tried, but the moment he didn't want to run into them there they were.

Reno and Rude had caught sight of the Don and knew where he was heading. He'd just sent Rude off and now he had to deal with this. He turned to face Cloud and tried hard not to look at the wide-eyed Cait sitting on his mog at the back of the group.

"If Elena is in his hands, that's going to make things a little difficult. And uh…"

How could he explain to them that the last thing he wanted right now was a fight. He wanted to get to Elena as quickly as possible and ditch the dead weight, too.

"Okay. Corneo took Yuffie from us. And without Yuffie, there's no way to get our materia back."

Reno smirked. It could have been his imagination but Cloud seemed just as eager to avoid a fight too. There might be some common sense there after all.

"Don't misunderstand. We have no intention of joining you. But for now, we'll not bother each other. That's all."

"That's fine. We have absolutely no intention of cooperating with the Turks either." Cloud replied like he'd been insulted by the very idea. "Now, uh, just what direction did Corneo run off to?"

"Hmm, nice attitude. Here's a clue, it's the place that stands out the most."

Fed up with being delayed, Reno turned and ran off after Rude.

Reno vaguely noticed Cloud following him up the path of the mountain trail and instead of cursing his luck he decided to use it instead. He caught up to Rude and stopped, patiently waiting for the rest of Avalanche to catch up as well.

Cloud pulled up in front of him and watched him warily.

"You're finally here." Reno started. "We're gonna spilt into two. You do whatever you want. But don't endanger Elena. Don't worry, we won't do anything to that girl, Yuffie. For now…"

Reno started off again with Rude, Cloud and a few members of Avalanche brining up the rear. It was a strange kind of charge he was leading and he wasn't pleased in the least that Cait had decided to tag along. Generally Reno liked Reeve to see him work about as much as he liked getting shot. But at least this time it was for something vaguely heroic.

Before getting to the last statue on the mountain path Reno pulled up short. He grabbed Rude's arm and gestured for the others to go on ahead. They might as well do something useful like distract Corneo while he and Rude come up with a rescue strategy.

"Let them deal with any big nasties Corneo has in store. Let them delay while you get into position."

Reno pointed Rude off to flank while he snuck up closer. His hiding spot allowed him to hear what Corneo was saying but he couldn't see anything. Eventually, Reho got himself into a spot where he could see the Don standing on the upraised finger of the Da Chao statue. Elena and the other girl were tied to the statue itself.

"Wait just a second," Reno heard Corneo say to Cloud.

"Shut up!"

"Just listen to me. It won't take long. Why do you think a bad guy like me would swallow his pride and plead for his life? One: because he's ready to die. Two: because he's sure to win? Or three: because he's clueless?"

"Because he's sure to win?" Cloud guessed in a tone that made Reno understand that Cloud had just realized the same thing he did.

"Woo-hoo, right!"

The eyes of the statue, where the girls were tied, rotated. As Reno watched, both girls were flipped upside down. It was clear to him that Corneo intended to kill them both to ensure his escape.

"If I push this button, they'll fall upside down and we'll have squashed tomatoes!"

"Damn…" Cloud muttered.

Reno agreed.

"Coward!" Tifa yelled at Corneo.

"Now, give me your women, too!" The Don cackled. "Ha, ha, ha, ha! I guess I'm the one laughing last!"

Damnit, he'd hoped Avalanche might slow the bastard down longer than this. Reno would have to act now and try to play for time long enough for Rude to get into position.

"No, that would be us." Reno called out.

"Hee-haw. What…what's goin' on? Who's there?"

Reno, as casually and as slowly as he could, walked out onto the statue where the Don can see him.

"The Turks!"

"You knew this was gonna happen ever since you leaked that secret. We're going to take care of you…personally."

"Damnit! Then they're all goin' with me!"

Rude darted out from a path behind the giant stone head of the statue and threw a dagger at the Don, nailing his target expertly.

The Don grunted with the impact and teetered backwards, losing his balance and falling off his perch on the statue's finger. He managed to catch himself on the edge before he fell to his death.

"Good timing, Rude."

"Let's get to work."

Reno nodded and wandered up to where the Don is holding on for dear life. He grinned down at the bastard and put his foot onto the Don's already straining fingers. He exerted just the smallest amount of pressure and the Don's eyes opened wide.

"All right, Corneo. This'll be over quick, so listen up. Why do you think we went to all the trouble of teaming up with those guys to get you? One: because we were ready to die? Two: because we were sure of victory or Three: because we were clueless?

Corneo nodded frantically. "Two…number two?"

"All wrong."

Reno ground his thick soled shoe into the Don's fingers.

"No, wait! Stop-!"

Reno took his foot away and watched Corneo plummet to his death. Normally Reno didn't take a great amount of pleasure from watching someone die, but that guy just made his skin crawl. And besides, he would have raped Elena and that Yuffie girl, too, if they hadn't stopped him.

Reno waited till he couldn't hear the plummeting screams any more, then raised his head and pushed his sunglasses further up onto his nose. "The correct answer was: because it's our job."

"Oh, thank you very much. I never expected you to come help." Elena told him, obviously relieved.

Reno turned enough to look up at her. He was glad of the sunglasses so she wouldn't be able to see his own relief in his eyes. Elena was his student so he was understandably protective of her. He just wished she made more sense than a goldfish sometimes. "Don't act so weak. You're a Turk."

"Y…yes, sir!"

She must have been in shock. She never called him Sir."

In that moment Reno's pocket started ringing. With a sigh he fished it out, aware that Avalanche were still watching him.

"Yes, this is Reno. Yes, yes, I'll get on it right away." It had been Heidegger. He'd just been given orders.

"Was that the company?" Elena asked.

"Yeah," Reno affirmed, raising his eyes to meet Cloud's. "They want us to find Cloud."

Reno pocketed his phone again while Cloud readied that massive sword of his, preparing for a fight.

Reno didn't make a move to engage though. He just kept looking at Cloud, his eyes sometimes flickering over to Cait who was staring at him very intensely.

"Are we on?" Rude asked tentatively.

Reno just sighed and rubbed a hand through his hair. "No, today we're off duty."

"Hey!" Yuffie yelled shrilly still struggling on the statue. "Who cares about that! Get. Me. Down!"

* * *

Reno watched the slowly setting sun from his perch in the palm of Da Chao. One leg dangling over the edge of a finger, bathed in soothing yellow/orange glow of the failing sunlight. He readjusted his sunglasses on his nose and stared out over the landscape at the coming darkness.

He sighed very deeply.

"What do you want, Rude?"

He heard Rude's footsteps much more plainly now as his fellow, or rather now, subordinate Turk came to stand just behind him.

An hour or so ago, all three Turks had stood in this spot and watched the ashes spiral away in the wind. Reno had felt something loosen in his chest at the sight. He felt the cool wind touch his face, move his air and continue to take the ashes further away.

Elena had cried and Rude had clamped a hand on his shoulder. Then Rude had taken Elena back to the Inn and Reno had stayed to…what? Wallow in his depression for a little while longer? Yeah, that was probably it. But apparently he'd been up here longer than he'd thought if Rude had trekked all the way back up here to see him.

"How much longer are we staying here, Reno? The job's done, it's time to go home."

Reno shrugged. "I like it here. What's the urgent urgency?"

"We've been recalled, you know that."

"And what if I told Shinra to go fuck themselves. What then?"

"I'd say that you shouldn't act so rashly. That perhaps you are letting misfortune and outside influences cloud your own judgment a little too much."

Reno scratched his eyebrow. "If I'd wanted a Turk's advice I would have ordered you to give it. I repeat: 'What if I told Shinra to go fuck themselves?'"

Rude was silent for a few moments this time before he answered. "I'd go home to Junon."

No mention of Maggie or what he'd do there was said, but Reno could guess that's what he was thinking.

"Thought so." Reno took a minute to stretch. "You know what I would do? I'd probably go back to Sector Three, take a good long last look around, then shoot myself."

"Thought so."

More silence minutes passed.

"You know what the real bitch is?" Reno continued.

"Life?"

"Chance," Reno corrected. "My whole existence is a series of chance occurrences. The first real big one was when my mother met a man called Rylie Anderson. The next one was when she met a completely different man whose name I can't remember anymore. He made my mother kick me out, which she did I might add within five minutes of the request, where I began to live out my life on the streets. A self taught thief who caught the eye of yet another strange man who worked for a slumlord and thought I had some talent he could use. From there on in it's just been a huge string of chance meetings and me being pushed in directions I wasn't even sure I wanted to go in. From Tarran to Rankin, Dallen and Tseng to Shinra, and finally from Shinra to Reeve. I'd love to make a decision that isn't being swayed by the last person I just met.

"I almost had a real life in all that somewhere, you know." Reno turned his head around to look at Rude above the rims of his sunglasses. In the soft light his aqua eyes fairly glowed. "You _did_ have a real life and you threw that away when you chose some shitty idea of old loyalty over something you loved most in the whole world."

Rude looked far from happy at that. "You're hardly in a position to question my decisions after that pile you just handed me."

"Rude, buddy, I'm in the perfect position."

"Then why don't you make the decision to go back to Midgar, kidnap Reeve and go into hiding on some tropical island then if it's so fucking easy?"

Reno didn't have an easy answer for that. "Do you think Tseng would have given up?"

"You're not Tseng," Rude answered bluntly.

"Damnit, I know that!" Reno looked back toward the rapidly setting sun. Reno frowned. "What a sad loser Tseng must have been to want this life for as long as he did. Don't get me wrong, I loved the guy but that's one of the most pathetic things I've ever heard of! He was feared and respected, sure, but he never really let himself live one little minute of his life. He died very unhappy and extremely alone because of the decisions he made. And this is _me_ saying this shit and I've got to be one of the five people he could have listed as his bestest buddies ever. I'll also add that I'm the only one of those currently alive too. And do you know what the really sad and fucked up thing about it all is? He was training me to be just like him. And fuck me if he almost didn't get me there."

Rude sympathetically pat Reno's shoulder. "I'll miss him too," he assured.

"Rude, you have no idea."

Rude seemed to have said everything he'd come up here to say. But Reno asked him another question before the Turk had got more than a few paces away from Reno's still turned back.

"Before you called Junon 'home'. Why?"

Rude seemed puzzled for a while. "It's where I was born." He said obviously.

"Yeah, but you live in Midgar."

"I'd hardly call anything anyone does in Midgar 'living' Reno. Besides it's where I work, where I currently live. I didn't come from Midgar."

"I guess you'd have to," Reno said quietly. "I can't quit. I'd have to make a new home."

"Reno, you hate Midgar. Plus you've been threatening to quit ever since you got back from Junon but you never will." It then dawned on Rude, staring at the back of his new boss's back, what exactly was wrong with him. "You're scared."

"Blow me, Rude."

"For the first time in your life you have to make big life decisions where you can't go off and blame someone else when it goes wrong. And that scares the shit out of you, doesn't it?"

"Look who's talking."

"But that stuff doesn't bother me. I joined the Troopers when I was eighteen, I'm used to taking orders and having decisions made for me and it's never bothered me. But you-"

"Okay, so maybe I am a little jittery, but _not_because of anything like that. Rude, take a look around you! Remember that big pile of shit we always predicted? Well it's happening and we, my friend, are front and center for the show."

"You've never been afraid of a little action. You've never been afraid of death."

"Oh I have, just not my own."

If Rude had been a nasty man he might have continued to point out that Reno was just feeling sorry for himself. He'd never really been the 'woe is me' type though, so Rude let it slide. They were all feeling sorry for themselves these days, so he just grunted a goodnight at Reno and headed back down the mountain path towards the Inn.

* * *

Finally Reno was just managing to doze off in the inn bed when a scraping sound alarmed him and he jerked his head toward the window. A little robot cat had frozen on the sill in the act of opening the window and was watching Reno with wide eyes.

"Sorry", he whispered. "I was trying to be quiet."

Reno had gotten his hand to his gun on the bedside table before he'd realized. He groaned and released the weapon.

"You scared the ever living fuck out of me, Reeve."

Cait came in the rest of the way through the window and jumped down onto the bedside table next to Reno's gun.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"And I suppose the invention of the phone escaped your attention?"

If the robot could scowl properly it would be doing so now. "I wanted to come see you in person." Cait paused and looked down at himself. "Uh, sort of. I wish I could have been here with you earlier to scatter the ashes but there's no way Rufus would have let me. This is the best way I can think to be here for you."

Reno looked at the cat and realized he was being a bit of a dick. He tried to force a smile. "It's okay, Rude and Elena were here. I'm sorry you couldn't be here for yourself, though."

"Me, too."

Cait crawled onto the bed and climbed up onto Reno's chest where he lay down.

Reno grunted. "Holy fuck, you're a lot heavier than you look."

"Sorry." But the cat didn't move.

They lay that way in silence for a few moments longer till Reno spoke up again. "I'm sorry. I know I haven't been the most stable person in the world since Tseng's death. I know you must be hurting a lot, too. I'm sorry I didn't consider that better. For you or Rude."

"Helping you and being with you made it better," Cait replied simply. "It gave me focus. But you know, Rude doesn't really have anyone anymore."

"Yeah I know. I promise I'll be less of a dick to him in the future. And more of a dick to Rufus."

"What did he do now?"

"You must know he's recalled us. We were supposed to be here for however long we needed but he needs us back on the job. He's sending me to Junon and Rude to Rocket Town to secure the huge materia. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Rufus seems to have a master plan now, however far fetched I personally think it is, but would one or two more fucking days have killed him?"

"You don't think the rocket will work?" Cait asked curiously.

"No. Ah, who knows? It might, I hope it does. But I dunno, the perpetual paranoia I suffer tells me this plan is a little desperate."

"Avalanche will try and stop you."

"See, I don't get why." Reno told him unsurprised by the news. "Even if it is desperate and far-fetched, I doubt they have a better plan."

"I'm not sure what Cloud is thinking," Cait admitted, "But he must have a good reason."

"Well, excuse me if Crazy Strife doesn't exactly strike me as the man with the plan type."

Cait lifted his head up and watched Reno carefully. "You have to be careful in Junon. They'll come for the materia."

"Awesome," Reno replied in a flat tone. "Why the fuck did I help them today exactly?"

"Because deep down you have a good heart."

"Or maybe I hate Don Corneo even more than I hate Avalanche. Besides, the slime had Elena too."

"Whatever helps you sleep bette,r Reno. Thanks for the help, by the way. It felt good for once being on the same side."

Reno snorted, "I hate to break this to you Reeve but we are always supposed to be on the same side. You're Shinra too, remember?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, unfortunately I know exactly what you mean."

"Did you know Rufus is sending me to Junon too?"

Reno perked up a little at that. "Really? Why?"

"He wants to relocate the cannon to Midgar. He thinks that if we direct a blast from Midgar using all eight reactors we might hit the Northern Crater and kill Sephiroth."

"And you don't think this will work because…?"

"What makes you think I think it won't work?"

"Because I know you, Reeve. Even through a robot cat with thousands of miles between us I know the sound of your skepticism when I hear it. It's like my superpower."

"Pretty lame superpower. But anyway, I never said it wouldn't work. I just think it might have as much of a chance of blowing up Midgar than it does Sephiroth. But that could just be the pessimist in me."

"Glad to see something positive of me is rubbing off on you. Do you really think it's that dangerous?"

"Maybe, I don't know. I'll run the figures some more but Rufus may well be onto something here. The cannon might only survive one shot without endangering the city, but it's one shot more than we had. If the numbers look good I'll do my best to see if it will work. At the very least it might do some damage to that force field that's protecting him and give Avalanche a chance to take him out."

"So maybe you aren't so pessimistic after all."

Reno rolled himself onto his side causing Cait to tumble off onto the bed. He crawled back up to Reno and lay down beside him. After a moment, Reno threw an arm over him and cuddled him closer.

"Hey Reno, they're not gonna miss me through the night. Do you mind if I stay here with you?"

He felt a little ridiculous with a robot cat cuddled up to him like a teddy bear, but Reno had to admit, it was nice not to spend this night by himself. He would have preferred the real thing of course, but after today, he wasn't going to be picky about Reeve's current physical state when comfort was offered. And he knew the real reason Reeve was offering. He was feeling low about Tseng and about his predicament, but mostly he knew Reno would have had an emotional day and was trying to comfort him the best he could.

"Just try and leave."

TBC


	33. Deception

**What You Do To Me**

**Chapter 33**

**Deception**

"You know this won't work, don't you Reno?"

"I know no such thing."

"C'mon we've both handled enough explosives to know that materia bombs never really worked right."

"Well, you're the expert, not me. I just like to see things explode, I don't care how the bombs are built."

"Reno…"

"Look, what choice do we have? This is the only plan we have at the moment to save the world. It's gotta be better than nothing right?"

"Sure, if you say so."

Reno was just heading from Junon airport and was on the phone to Rude, who had been sent to Rocket Town to oversee security at the rocket. Reno was to help secure the huge materia that would be transported to the rocket at this end. After the last few attempts to obtain huge materia had failed due to Avalanche stealing it before it got to its intended destination, Rufus was apparently taking no more chances and had sent the Turks to make sure the job got done.

_Well,__whatever_, Reno thought, _if __it __would __stop __Rufus __bitching __at __me __it __might __be __worth __the __effort._

When Reno stepped off the airstrip and saw a tall man with dark chocolate colored hair and a warm smile waiting near the airport entryway he realized it was more than worth the effort coming here after all.

He hadn't seen Reeve in almost a week and the sight of him now made Reno finally understand those stupid cheesy moments in movies when the two lovers would run toward each other over the grassy field. Not that he was about to do that. He wasn't cheesy or the fourteen-year-old girl that thought all those moments were terribly romantic, but for the first time in his life he could at least appreciate the want to do such a thing.

If he could ever figure out a suitably manly way to do it.

Instead he settled for cool nonchalance that lasted all of fifteen seconds until he finally got close to Reeve, saw that there was no one around, and gave in to a thorough tongue molesting.

"Um, hello," Reeve greeted him after Reno let him breathe once more.

"Hi. Fancy meeting you here. It's Reeve, right? I vaguely remember you from Midgar."

"Smart ass. It's only been a week. And besides, you're the one usually leaving Midgar all the time," Reeve reminded him as the pair started towards the Shinra terminal.

"Well I'm glad that our noble though separate missions to save the world have synced up in the same city for once. Are you here for much longer?"

"Just tonight, maybe tomorrow night as well. The cannon has already been transported back. Scarlet's already left, I just have to secure the reactor before heading back myself."

Reno gave him a sideways glance. "Really?"

"Yes," Reeve replied frowning at the implication that he was lying. "If I don't shut the lines down that used to lead to the cannon properly the reactor could start leaking into the ocean. That you'll be taking the condensed mako out of the reactor core only exacerbates matters as well."

"And the fact that Avalanche are coming to take this materia off Shinra hasn't compelled you to stay and help in any way. I take it you were the one who told them it was here in the first place."

Now Reeve started to look a little guiltier. "I didn't know Rufus would be sending you here when I told them. I told you I wouldn't put you in harm's way."

"Well, unluckily for you, Rufus doesn't have that same compunction. I suppose you telling me Avalanche are coming here is your spy report to get Rufus off your back."

"I would have warned you either way."

"Why?" Reno asked seriously. "You either want Avalanche to succeed or you want Shinra to."

"I want us all to succeed." Reeve told him. "It shouldn't be us against them, it should be all of us against Sephiroth."

"Good point, but I wasn't talking about the grand scheme, just the here and now. Do you want me to fail so Avalanche can get the materia?"

"I don't want you to get hurt."

"That doesn't answer my question. Or maybe is does by you not answering it. Just so you know, I'm gonna do my job here no matter what you say. I'm not going to roll over and let Avalanche win and ruin Rufus's plan for the rocket. If it has any hope of succeeding it's worth trying."

"Are we really arguing about this for a second time?" Reeve asked wearily.

"Sure, why not? At least I might get some angry sex out of it again."

"Assuming that you're getting laid just because we're both here in the same city for the night is a tad presumptuous."

"Fine, but myself and I are having sex tonight with or without you. It's up to you whether at some point you want to jump in or not."

Despite arguing not a minute ago, Reeve had to laugh at that one.

* * *

That evening Reno dismissed the Trooper escort guarding Reeve and the two spent the night in Reeve's hotel room. Reno himself didn't get put up in such grand accommodations while he was out of Midgar so he invited himself to Reeve's room, took a shower, wrapped himself up in a huge white fluffy towel and sprawled over the bed Reeve had been sitting on while typing on his computer. Reno's sprawl upset his typing and Reeve looked over at his mostly naked room guest and sighed.

"You did that on purpose."

"You say that like I would deny it."

By now Reeve had gotten to a place with Reno where he knew when he could keep working and when he couldn't. It wasn't that Reno was ever very subtle when he wanted Reeve to pay attention to him and stop working but sometimes he was only teasing and sometimes he really meant it. Knowing when he meant it and when he was only trying out of boredom was the trick.

Reeve shut his laptop and looked at Reno expectantly.

"So what is the delay anyway? I would have thought you'd go straight from the airport to the reactor."

Something in Reeve's voice made Reno pause before he answered. "The sub hasn't come in yet. Won't be here 'til tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

"So you're taking the materia out through the submarine bay in the reactor?"

It was at this point that Reno found himself pretending one emotion while feeling another with Reeve. He couldn't believe it; Reeve was pumping him for information. Information that he'd probably pass along to Avalanche the first moment he got.

It made him sad in a way. He wanted Reeve to be open with him about this stuff but apparently Reeve hadn't got the message the last time. So Reno found himself playing along and trying not to show how angry and hurt he felt about it.

"That's the plan. Are you going to be in the reactor tomorrow?"

"I had planned to be. But I should have everything wrapped up in there by lunchtime."

"Good. I wouldn't suggest sticking around, I don't want them in there while you are. You could be in danger."

"Okay. Will you tell me when it's time to get out?"

Reno sighed inwardly; Reeve was really bad at this. "Sure, I'll let you know."

* * *

At the appointed time the next day the sub arrived with its escort and Reno gave Reeve and the techs in the reactor the warning to clear out. Reeve had seemed jittery about the timing that morning but seemed a little more relaxed when it came time to clear out. Obviously he had been worried that Avalanche weren't going to make it to Junon in time before the sub left the reactor with the materia. Reno could only assume that Reeve's new calm meant that Avalanche were indeed in the city and though at this point they'd be cutting it fine, they must be close or Reeve wouldn't have been so cool about it.

But little did Reeve know that Reno had been waiting for a sign like that. He wanted Avalanche in the reactor, he wanted to keep them distracted for as long as possible for his plan to work.

They were just loading up the sub when Reno turned from overseeing the operation to find Avalanche coming into the sub bay behind him.

Perfect. He set the mechanical sub bay defence on them and left them to deal with it while he hightailed it out of the reactor. As quickly as he could, Reno ran up to the Junon Airport where another piece of materia was being loaded onto a plane by Junon Security in preparation to being flown to Rocket Town.

He joined the Junon Head of Security in the airport tower to watch the plane being loaded and getting ready for take off.

"Pretty smooth, Reno. The plane's loaded and reports from the subs tell me that they got the sub carrying the materia, but have no idea about this one yet."

"Don't sound so surprised, Tarran."

Tarran grinned at him before a sight from the runway below distracted him. "Oh look, I guess they did find out. Too late now, though."

Tarran was right; Reno saw Cloud and the others run out onto the runway just as the plane took flight, leaving them behind and getting a hell of a head start to boot.

Reno took his phone out of his pocket and dialled Rude's number. He'd better warn Rude that Avalanche had found them out.

"Comin' your way, head's up Rude."

Reno hung up his phone and turned as he pushed it into his pants pocket.

"Later Tarran, I'll catch up with you before I leave for Midgar."

To his utter expectation, when he turned he saw Reeve standing behind him. Reeve looked, well not pissed, but pretty annoyed. He stood arms crossed and frowning.

"I didn't know you were going to transport the materia by plane," Reeve said steadily.

"No," Reno confirmed swiftly going to walk past him before they could get into it. "There's a reason for that."

Reeve wasn't pissed before but he was now. Reno wasn't looking at his face, but it was like he could feel the heat of his anger and he went to walk past him. Also Reeve grabbed his arm and spun him around so they could face one another.

"You kept secrets from me! You did it on purpose to lead us in the wrong direction!"

This was not a conversation to be having in the airport tower. Reeve wasn't yelling but it was pretty obvious a Shinra executive and a Turk were having it out. It didn't look real good.

"It's Reeve right?" Tarran said unexpectedly coming to Reno's rescue. "I'm Tarran, one of Reno's old friends from Midgar."

Even pissed Reeve was a little derailed by Tarran cutting in. Especially because Reeve had heard about Tarran a lot but the two had yet to meet. If Reno had been in a better mood he might have appreciated Reeve's not so subtle eye slide over Reno's handsome childhood friend. Tarran's looks even put Rufus to shame so there was more than a little jealousy in that look. Pity Reno wasn't in a position to enjoy it much.

"Yeah another time, maybe." Reno interrupted grabbing Reeve's arm and steering him out of the tower. When they were walking down a vacant corridor he continued to Reeve, "Chill out, your merry band still got one piece of materia."

"You used it as a decoy," Reeve accused him.

"Yep. Rufus needs at least one piece of huge materia for his bomb and now he has it."

"You used me."

This was childish even for Reeve. Reno knew he'd get bent out of shape because of his little subterfuge, but more and more Reeve seemed to be forgetting that Reno had a job of his own to do.

"At which point did I actually lie to you?" Reno asked calmly but pointedly. "Even when you were pumping me for information last night, did I actually ever lie?"

Reeve's eyes narrowed. "I wasn't -"

"You were and you know it. Look Reeve, I never, ever, thought you would lie to me. I can't believe you were about to and it hurts that you would lie to me for them, these people who don't even know you like I do. The fact that you were even using our relationship and my trust in you last night to get information from me was enough so I don't feel particularly bad about what I did in return. I admit it, though I didn't lie, that I purposely told you about the submarine so Avalanche would focus themselves there because I realized that you were using me and I in turn could use you for some misdirection."

Reeve shut his mouth. He still didn't look happy but Reno got the impression that it wasn't him Reeve was angry with anymore. The only reason he was being so calm about this now was because he understood that if Reeve knew what his deception had meant to Reno he would never have done it. Or at least he would have been a little more open about getting information. Reeve was having perhaps a little fun with his spying role but it was clearly getting the better of him when he tried to deceive the pro of deception.

"You only did that because you think I was trying to use you for information?"

"Yeah, pretty much. But I'm gonna be honest with you, I would have done it even if you hadn't asked me all those questions last night. These last couple of weeks you've been treating me like one of the enemy. Don't get me wrong, we haven't been fighting the whole time or anything, but I know you keep things from me because you think I might run off and tell Rufus or use the information against Avalanche. I think we need to get some things straightened out because I don't want us to be at odds with one another. If you want to stay together we need to work out some ground rules."

Reeve took a deep breath. "Okay."

* * *

They decided to move the discussion out of the barracks and back to the hotel. It was far more private for treasonable conversation away from the prying ears of the many Troopers in the barracks.

"I can see this going one of two ways," Reno began, taking a seat on the bed while Reeve paced in front of him. It was a trait Reeve always had when he was nervous. Needless to say Reno had seen him to do it a lot over the years. "We can either stop talking about Avalanche and work altogether and you'll start reporting to Rufus and Rude, which will probably thrill Rufus anyway, or we can work out a way to help each other without all the secretive bullshit."

The easy thing for Reeve to pick if he had major trust issues with Reno would have been the first alternative. Therefore Reno was very grateful when he picked the second choice.

"I don't want to end things because of this. I want us to be able to trust each other with everything."

"Okay, so let's decide on something right now: I don't care who saves the world so long as somebody does. If I think Shinra is planning something detrimental I'm quite happy to feed you information to pass along to them if I think for any reason they can make it right again. On the opposite side, if Shinra have something planned I think is in our best interests, I will do my upmost to stop or otherwise impede Avalanche's plans. What the two of us need to decide is what is good and what is bad."

Reeve had stopped pacing and was looking at Reno in something close to shock. "You're _that_ willing to go against Shinra?"

"It's not a spur of the moment decision; I've been giving it a lot of thought. I got so focussed for a while on following in Tseng's footsteps I forgot that Tseng wasn't perfect. If I really want to do something right I should learn from his mistakes, not try to emulate them." Reno shrugged. "Besides, I know this is important to you and that matters to me a lot. I will remind you, however, that what's right isn't always going to be against Shinra. You give Avalanche too much credit where credit is only partially due. You can't be all in love with them just because they fit the typical hero mould."

"It's not them I'm in love with," Reeve told him with a smile. It wasn't lost on him what this meant for Reno.

Reno might not have been a true company loyalist most of the time, but Reeve knew there was something inbuilt in the back of his mind that always made Reno think:_You__'__re__a__Shinra__man,__don__'__t__forget__it._He might bitch about it, break the rules and occasionally kill the employees, but he'd never worked actively against them since becoming Turk. Not to the line of the treason Reeve was currently prodding.

And the biggest reason Reno was probably even contemplating it now was because of him. Reeve wished he could feel guiltier about that, but he didn't. Reno might be making a big sacrifice, bigger than Reeve could fully understand, but Reeve was too pleased with the prospect of having a proper ally for the first time since he'd decided to help Avalanche achieve their goals. Tseng had been right, Reno would help him when it really mattered if only he'd let him. But Tseng's other words to him worried him, that'd have to be careful because what he did from now on wouldn't just put himself in danger but Reno, too.

Reno was smiling at him like he understood everything behind what Reeve had meant. But his smiled dropped when he continued.

"But if we're going to do this, we need to be in agreement about everything. You also need to plan better to keep yourself out of trouble for as long as possible. You've been doing whatever feels right to you and not thinking about the consequences. That has to stop."

"You know, I'm not that hopeless. I'm getting better at covering my tracks."

Reno suddenly grinned, "If you're talking about the communication problem with Junon I wouldn't get too excited. I worked it out but luckily Rufus probably won't because he didn't have as many facts as I did. You are getting better, but I'm still better at the bullshitting Rufus game than you are."

Reeve couldn't disagree there. "Okay. So what do we do now?"

Reno leant back. "Well, we should probably tell Rufus about them showing up in Junon but I suggest we do it after the fact. Communication with Midgar is still pretty bad at the moment thanks to you, so we've got a pretty good excuse. I've forewarned Rude that Avalanche are on their way to Rocket Town so you can expect that Rude will have all the Troopers at his disposal ready for them and frankly I'm okay with that. Which leads me into the most important ground rules. I will not allow anything that might endanger you or Rude and Elena. That isn't negotiable."

"I can accept that about Rude and Elena. In fact I agree totally. But I'm not a child and if I choose to put my own safety at risk-"

Reno held up a hand to cut him off. "I told you. That's not negotiable. In fact, it's a deal breaker."

Reeve watched the serious set to Reno's face for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

"Also, I want you to start thinking for yourself more where Avalanche are concerned. I mean do you really think this plan for the rocket is so bad?"

Reeve sat down next to Reno and sighed. "Not really. But Barret was just so…"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Reno interrupted again. "You have to control the information you're giving them just like you do with Rufus to steer them in the direction that suits you better. Like I said, just because it's a Shinra idea doesn't automatically mean it's a bad one. One plan is better than none I figure, and I think you made a real mistake telling them about every single bit of huge materia. Sure, let Avalanche get a bit of it if it will help the mission, but letting Rufus keep some for his plan gives us more cards in our hand to play with."

"I get what you're saying. But about a situation where we don't have the luxury of splitting the spoils, what if there was only one piece of materia and only one group could have it?"

"Then we weigh the pros and cons of either side getting it and decide which one is most likely to succeed. We don't just go with one side because they're a little shinier than the other. You can't tell me Cloud has all the answers when Rufus doesn't. He's gotta be just as lost as we are when it comes to Meteor. He's too focused on taking down Sephiroth - he's lost sight of everything else."

"Not entirely," Reeve told him. "Look I'll admit there's a lot of faith going on that certain things will happen at the right time, but I think 'lost' is a bit strong."

"If you're referring to whatshernames little Holy spell, I'm not gonna hold my breath."

"Aeris," Reeve reminded a little coldly.

"Sorry," Reno apologized though he sounded only vaguely sincere about it.

Reeve tried not to angry and reminded himself that Reno had been in a lot of fights with Avalanche and been badly hurt because of it. The fact that he was willing to help them at all was pretty extraordinary even if during those fights he hadn't really been on the side of the morally correct.

"But I'd like to rely on facts if it's all the same. From now on we discuss everything together, we don't make any decisions without the agreement of the other, we have no more secrets, no more lying and we stop using each other. We either trust each other or we don't."

"It's not because I didn't trust you, Reno. I know you would only do what was best for me but you're too hung up on what's best for me and what will keep me safe. There's a bigger picture here, the whole world is at stake. You have to understand that."

"I get it. But you have to understand something as well. If anything happened to Rude, Elena or especially you, I wouldn't give two shits about what happened to the rest of the world."

"You can't mean that," Reeve asked surprised. "There are a lot of innocent people in the world, Reno. How can you not care about whether they live or die?"

"This might have escaped your attention Reeve, but I'm a bit of a bastard."

"I think you'd like people to believe that. But I believe that even if I was gone, you'd still try and do the right thing."

"That's a nice fantasy you have there, Reeve. And you are basing this off my many good works in the past?"

"I think I know you better than you do," Reeve told him with a small smile. "Otherwise you wouldn't care about doing the right thing at all. Even if you are saying you're just doing it because it's important to me. You're full of shit."

Reno shook his head, fighting a smile of his own. "That's what I love about you, Reeve, your unwavering optimism, even in the face of bald facts."

"Whatever, you're still full of shit."

* * *

The next day they were packing up to leave the city together to head back to Midgar when Reno got the call from Rude that the rocket had taken off and was en-route to incept Meteor. The pair stopped what they were doing and stood by the huge window in Reeve's hotel room to wait for the anticipated explosion in the sky.

It was a longer wait than either of them expected but when it happened Reno grinned widely while shielding his eyes from the bright flash in the sky. Reno's smile was infectious and Reeve found himself mirroring it until Reno grabbed him and kissed him joyously.

The flash died down as they finished kissing. And still in each other's arms they looked back up at the sky and saw…the red glow of Meteor still there.

Reeve had known and told Reno that Avalanche had managed to get onto the rocket but had been unable to unlock the security code to release the materia before escaping the impending collision with Meteor.

So the bomb had gone off as planned but had failed and Reeve was surprised at how crushed he felt. He hadn't realized how much he'd been hoping Rufus's plan would save the world. Of course he wanted the world to be saved, but he'd been a bit dubious about it all. He'd _wanted_ it to work so badly and he felt so low that it had turned out to be for nothing.

Of course it was nothing compared to the look on Reno's face. Reno always seemed to maintain this negative outlook on life to protect himself against being disappointed but this time he'd obviously been hoping to be wrong and it showed badly on his face.

"Fuck," he muttered viciously.

* * *

"Fuck," Rufus muttered looking out of his office window up at the still approaching glow of Meteor.

The simple swearword didn't really cover Rufus's total and complete loathing of the whole situation. He was livid really. It was the best plan they'd had and it had all been for nothing.

Their last best hope lay in the cannon that was even now still being pieced together on scaffolding above the city. Rufs had to believe it would work and he could somehow get them all out of this mess, but the failure of the rocket got him thinking for the first time about the possibility that Sephiroth and Meteor might be unstoppable.

And what if they were, what if this was his last few days of his life? Could he be satisfied with that? He hesitated at that and he had to wonder why. For a few months Rufus was the most powerful man in the world. It didn't give him a lot of comfort.

If everything else failed, what would happen at the end? For all his power and money Rufus would still spend his last days alone.

He wished it didn't happen in that moment, but it made him think about Reno. If the world was coming to an end, Reno would find some measure comfort with the person he loved. He wouldn't die unloved and alone at least.

He'd dreamed even more about Reno while the Turk had been out of Midgar. Rufus had hoped that Reno being out of Midgar would stop the dreams but it had only gotten worse. And it wasn't just sex dreams now, it was dreams that were a little more romantic and he wondered briefly if how he felt in those dreams was how Reeve felt all the time. Never in his life had he been so jealous of anther person as he was of Reeve right now. If Rufus were in Reeve's position he'd die knowing he was cared about in a way he'd never felt before.

But Rufus wouldn't let himself think that way for long. He was Rufus Shinra, powerful, attractive and could have anything he wanted right? Why should he be jealous of a man like Reeve?

Rufus looked up at the glow again and willed himself for it to be true. _Made_ himself believe it.

And it almost even worked for a little while.

* * *

Not only was the rocket's failure a major blow to humanity, but it was a big blow for Shinra's image. Rufus had needed to do something to show Shinra was still in control and now that it had failed, it was not a good time to be a Shinra employee.

When Reno and Reeve arrived back in Midgar it was to news of riots and skirmishes against Shinra troops all around the city. The people were scared and angry and Shinra was easy to blame for their disappointment.

Of course the fact that Reeve was going to be spending the next few days almost constantly on site at the new cannon or at the reactors made it all the worst. Security was kept tight, but even with extra troopers, Reno assigned Rude to keep an eye on him for the duration of the construction period.

Reno would have liked to be out there with him, but being Head of the Turks meant he had to stay working in the Shinra Building. Most nights Reeve never came home and slept on site because it was more convenient and was actually safer than crossing the city every night just to get a couple of hours sleep. So Reno found himself on his own nearly every evening.

It was strange being in the same city as one another but not actually seeing each other for days – and nights- on end. But the both of them were kept too busy to make an excuse to see each other and there was too much at stake besides.

Rufus was working hard trying to come up with a new plan so Reno was left trying to plan out ways of stopping Midgar from tearing itself apart. He had to admit though that Reeve was doing better at that than he was just by doing his job preparing the cannon. The more time that went on, the more the cannon starting looking more prepared and the more people starting gaining back a little more faith in Shinra. The cannon was impressive and visible anywhere in Midgar and was a great icon that Shinra hadn't given up just yet.

With the riots lessening and people starting to regain a faith in Shinra, Reno went up to Rufus' office to make his routine report at the appointed time.

Rufus's secretary was absent this evening, so Reno knocked once on the door before opening it and stepping inside. Rufus had just been about halfway to the door when Reno closed the door behind him.

Rufus paused a moment in his step but continued toward Reno after a moment.

"Evening Rufus, I've got the report for-"

And then Rufus grabbed him, backed up against the closed door and kissed him.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: Well who didn't see that coming from way back in the first one? About time huh? Haha, I love messing with Rufus._

_Sorry about the massive delay, real life, work and everything slowed me up a bit and then the same thing happened to my beta too. But hopefully there will be a shorter wait than normal for the next one._

_Please review,_

_AF._


	34. The Complexities of Rufus Shinra

**What You Do To Me **

**Chapter 34**

**The Complexities of Rufus Shinra.**

Holy crap, Rufus had just kissed him.

All light flirty moments and suggestive games aside, Reno didn't think Rufus would ever….ever take him seriously. Of course, times long, long past, he would have still been excessively surprised but gone with it anyway just out of basic curiosity and sluttyness. But now, why now?

"You look surprised," Rufus said after a moment.

"That's because I am," Reno told him. "Are you fucking with me or what? You must be, I've flirted with you heaps and you've never taken me seriously."

"That's because you weren't being serious."

"Okay, I'll give you that. But all I said to you was 'evening' this time and I get tongue molested in three seconds flat. What the fuck?"

Rufus watched Reno's almost freaked out expression pretty calmly considering. His voice was flat and steady. "Did you ever actually mean any of it?"

"No. Not in a million years did I think you'd be interested. That was part of the fun. And that was years ago anyway." Something seemed to occur to Reno then. His expression calmed a little and he stopped using the wall to lean against. "You're pranking me, aren't you? Okay, I get it. Har har."

Rufus took a step closer to him and watched him carefully. "I'm not pranking you; I'm not getting you back for anything."

"Oh. Um. Thanks, I guess. But, um." Reno gave up. "Look, I have absolutely no idea what to say to you."

"No talking is required. At least not yet."

Oh. Okay. "You might not be realizing this, but this is me, trying to turn you down."

"Yeah, right."

"No really. I can't even believe I'm having this conversation with you. Rufus, you don't want me in that way. You hardly like me as a friend most of the time. If you ever, ever, had an interest in another guy, I figured it was Reeve anyway."

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, my relationship with him isn't like that. If I ever had an interest in him it was because you did. I think I wanted to know why. Why he would interest you so much."

Reno was speechless. This was so far beyond a 'what the fuck' moment it was almost to the point of hilarity. They'd been friends for years and not once did Reno have the impression that he was ever really getting to Rufus as far as his causal, friendly and for the most part joking, flirting was concerned.

"Right, well, your timing sucks for a start," Reno began. "Even if I was curious enough, I'm not actually fucking anyone else right now. But I like to be shocked every now and again, it's good for my circulation, so thanks for that and um, bye."

Reno went to turn and open the door, but Rufus reached up and pushed it closed again. "You can't say 'no'." Rufus told him in a faintly surprised tone. "It doesn't work like that."

"Actually, it's a pretty easy word to pronounce. Only one syllable, two letters. Doesn't get much easier as far as words go. And most other people seem to understand what it means. It means, decline, reject, unwant. I could find a dictionary for you if you'd take your hand off the door."

"Always joking huh? You can't always be joking. You weren't joking when you offered yourself to me in my car. I thought you were just making yourself do that at the time, but you really weren't. You wanted to do that."

"I think it was pretty clear I had reasons for trying that. So you would leave my ex alone for starters. You didn't take me up on it then, what's changed?"

"I realized that you must have wanted it. I didn't realize what I wanted until now."

"Good for you, it's always nice to have clear goals in life. Now get your hand off the door."

"You don't want to leave."

Reno gave Rufus a funny look. "You have rejection issues don't you? You can't convince me by repeatedly denying what I am saying to you. There's a reason I'm saying it. It's because I mean it."

"I don't think you do."

"Yeah well, you're obviously not thinking very clearly. C'mon, don't make me break your hand."

"You wouldn't."

Reno scoffed at the daring tone. "Okay, so obviously you don't know me as well as you thought. I can and will break your hand. Rufus, I may have not threatened you with violence in the past because you have always technically been my boss. But the idea of being fired just doesn't act as much a deterrent these days. You can't talk someone into having sex with you by wearing them down and you certainly can't force me because I could break both your arms in less than six seconds. And it's not really your style anyway. What's gotten into you?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I think deep down I've always known that'd you always be free, willing, and able-"

"So what", Reno interrupted, now a little angry, "Now that I'm not, you want to fuck me? I don't buy it, me and Reeve, this shit ain't new."

"Yes I know. I thought the first time was a fluke, the second time…Reno you've lost you sense of self. Going back to him means it might be serious after all and you should know better than that."

"Wait, wait, wait. You want me to break up with him? You're asking me to do this again? Did you even ask that first time because you thought you didn't need the spy anymore or was it jealousy? Don't you remember that you threatened to kill me for hurting Reeve the last time?"

"You hurt a friend of mine, the things you almost did were unforgivable to me. You aren't supposed to hurt people you love."

It was hard to wrap his head around, but Reno finally understood what Rufus was telling him.

Whatever Rufus' thing for him was, it was pretty deep. No matter that Rufus was trying to forcefully seduce him here; that was just Rufus' default way of being. He didn't have to romance people normally so he probably didn't figure this would be any different. But apart from that, Rufus had been bewildered enough in the beginning about why Reno, slut of Shinra, was interested in one lone person ever, that instead of hating Reeve, Rufus had gotten close to him out of pure curiosity. And something about Reeve caused Rufus to ultimately become friends with him.

Rufus probably didn't understand his feelings enough at the time to see them for what they were. And simply because those feelings had jaded him into thinking Reno incapable of hurting someone he cared about, hoping one day it might be him in that position, when Reno had beaten Reeve, the person he loved, Rufus felt like Reno had beaten him too. Betrayed him even. So Rufus had felt very sorry for Reeve because he was really empathizing with him.

Now that Reno and Reeve were back together, something that would never ever have happened unless it was very serious between them, Rufus had begun to believe he would never have the same affection from Reno, and that he was with Reeve for good. Apparently that was enough to make Rufus feel true jealousy about it all. He'd already begun to show signs that he was pissed off with Reeve for very little reason and now he was trying to get his old Reno back: the Reno who used to flirt with him and hang out with him. The Reno who, in Rufus's mind, because of the flirtation and close friendship, apparently wanted him, too.

Problem was, Reno didn't. He never really had. Once upon a time it might have been interesting, but as far as real feelings were concerned, Rufus wasn't even a consideration in Reno's mind. Only Rufus, with his ego, must have been sure that Reno would go for him without hesitation. He seemed to not register that Reno was turning him down.

It was just a theory, but all those little clues seemed to make sense in this new light. It had never been Reeve, because he had only acted that way because he didn't realize he was perhaps infatuated with Reno.

The thought calmed Reno a lot. "Rufus," Reno began steadily, "I can't say 'I didn't mean to lead you on' with a straight face, but I didn't mean for this, either. You can't demand something just because somebody else has what you want and expect it will go well for you. If I had been interested in you the way you're hoping, not just sex, then I wouldn't have stopped at innuendo. I'm just not really a shy kinda guy when it comes to that stuff. Even if Reeve wasn't in the picture, I might not have turned you down, but it would never have been what I suspect you hope it would be. I can't be one of those people that pines away for you and hopes to get picked the next time you feel like some company because I don't have those kinds of feelings for you."

By the expression on Rufus' face, Reno suspected he'd pretty much nailed it. Even probably said some things that hadn't even occurred to Rufus yet. Rufus would never had really wanted to have the same relationship Reno had with Reeve, he wouldn't know how to have a real relationship. But because he had feelings for Reno, he wanted Reno to be there at his beck and call just like every other person infatuated with him. He probably wasn't capable of having a normal relationship anymore. But he sure wanted Reno to love him as much as he loved Reeve. Reno had to admit; knowing someone was that in love with you was a powerful feeling, even for Rufus.

"Did I say I had feelings for you? Do you even understand who you're talking to?" Rufus asked a little testily. Apparently, Reno's summary hadn't gone down too well.

"You can cut the shit for two seconds, can't you? I didn't realize saying you did would hurt your ego so much. But I'm right, aren't I? Otherwise you wouldn't care one bit what I did with my personal life."

"Maybe I don't," Rufus told him coldly. "I was only suggesting a little fun. I thought you were interested."

Then Reno did something stupid. He stepped closer to Rufus and didn't stop till their chests were touching and leant in to whisper softly into Rufus' ear. "So the idea of never getting what you want from me, doesn't do anything to you? That I will leave here today and you will know that this was the first and last chance you ever had to kiss me, isn't causing you pain?"

Rufus drew in a breath as Reno's breath touched his ear. He went to move his hands up to touch him, but Reno grabbed his wrists and held them away.

"Well?" Reno asked directly into his ear.

It seemed to take a long time for Rufus to answer. His eyes were screwed up and his breath came out as though he were shuddering ever so slightly. "You can't leave."

"Why not?"

Rufus paused again for a moment. "Because you were mine first."

Abruptly, Reno let his wrists go and stepped back again. And when Rufus lost that contact his eyes snapped open and he stared at Reno surprised.

"What?" Reno asked in his normal tone, "Just because I got you to admit something doesn't mean you get a reward for it. If you'd said something earlier than perhaps the moment I get back with the person I've been obsessing over for the past couple of years you might've have gotten me to be a little more sympathetic. You can't have me just because you want me, that's not how it works in the real world.

"That wasn't fair."

"No probably not. Now if you want to have a proper conversation, that's cool with me, shit like this is hard to deal with sometimes, I get it. But get over yourself, not everyone has to fall in love with you just because you want them to."

Rufus didn't stop him this time as Reno opened the door and left the office, slamming the door closed behind him.

* * *

Reno had gotten back to the elevator before he realized he'd totally forgotten to tell Rufus the reason he'd come up here in the first place. Oh well, he'd send Elena up here once she got back to the office. At least that was one perk about being the boss, he had lackeys now.

_Not __that __it __was __worth __it._

"Oh shut up," he said aloud silencing the little voice in his head.

Tseng's death was still raw to Reno and now what had just happened with Rufus was eating at him too. Especially considering it was probably all his fault. Maybe deep down, back when they had been close friends, before Reeve had showed up on the scene, Reno had flirted with Rufus because he knew somehow that it would get to him this way. Because he knew that Rufus might be interested in him but would never own up to it. It sure sounded like Reno's style of fucked up mind game. To say he was totally oblivious would have been a lie. And really, he'd offered himself to Rufus that night because he knew that Rufus would take him up on the offer and leave Reeve alone because he felt something for him.

Well, maybe. Reno had never been one to over analyze things and that often got him into all sorts of trouble. He'd always just gone with gut feelings he never truly understood the reason behind at the time.

The door opened and Reno found himself staring out onto the Urban Development floor. He must have pushed the button for this floor without realizing it. Okay, so that was interesting. He was feeling confused and down so he'd automatically come here. Pity his unconscious mind didn't realize Reeve wouldn't be here and that Reno wasn't even going to see him till later tonight. It would be the first time since starting on the reactors that Reeve was able to come home for the night –four long days.

It would have been stupid to talk to Reeve right now, anyway. Reno wasn't sure whether this was something he should share. Of course, Reeve probably wouldn't get angry or anything. He'd probably figure – after knowing all the facts behind it – that it was Reno's own fault and that Reno had probably acted like a jerk. Which was all true. Life would have continued as normal except Reeve being who he was would be unable to keep the fact that he knew secret from Rufus. It's not like he'd tell him he knew, but body language, facial expressions and behavior the next time he saw Rufus would give him away. And Rufus would be looking for some sign that Reno had gabbed. Rufus already had enough – at least in his mind – reason to dislike Reeve now. And if Rufus didn't like you, he could make life pretty difficult for you when you worked for him. And Rufus was a vindictive man. He didn't just fire people, he reduced them to stressful wrecks who quit.

Reno wasn't worried that would happen to him. For one thing, Rufus needed him. The Turks were one major person down. Tseng couldn't be replaced no matter how much Reno tried, and if they were to suddenly lose their two longest serving members, Rufus would no longer be able to rely on his Turks like he used to. Rude was a good Turk, but he wasn't a strategist or a leader. Elena was still so new she still thought Shinra were the heroes. No, Reno knew he was a necessity that Rufus couldn't afford to lose right now and that gave him a kind of free ticket to dealing with Rufus that Reeve would not be so privy to. Sure, Reeve was the best the department had ever probably seen, but he had many skilled people under him that could get his job done eventually if he weren't around anymore. It wouldn't be as quick or as good of a job as Reeve himself was capable of, but the job could still go on without him. Therefore Reeve needed to stay out of Rufus's line of sight and give him no reason to be the butt of Rufus's frustrations as much as was now possible.

On the other hand though, Reeve might want to quit if Rufus made life difficult for him and they could both finally get out of this hellhole and retire to the beaches of Costa….nah, the end wasn't worth the means. Making Reeve miserable was not a way of getting things done. Actually his involvement with Avalanche was more likely to make him want to leave voluntarily more than anything else at the moment. So at least there was one bonus in his spying.

Reno punched the button to take him to the Turks floor.

Okay, it was decided, he wouldn't tell Reeve about the Rufus incident for his own good. And luckily, Rufus wasn't so persistent with people who turned him down, rare as it was, that it would become a future problem. Rufus pride just wouldn't allow it.

Reno smirked.

After all, it wasn't like Rufus was in love with him or anything.

* * *

"Took your time, how hard is it to prep one cannon and eight reactors?"

Reeve had been half in the process of dropping his bag to the floor by the door. He let the bag drop and dropped his keys onto the stand next to the door. He was smiling anyway, Reno hadn't sounded really annoyed.

He came up next to the couch Reno was sprawled across and dropped a kiss onto waiting lips.

"Now now, don't get too gushy. I know you missed me." Reeve told him.

"And your cable doesn't get the movie channel anymore," Reno responded.

Reeve stepped past Reno, picked up the legs spread out where he wanted to sit and slid underneath them, depositing them back on his lap. "You know a simple, 'hi' would suffice most of the time."

"Hi."

"Hi. So considering the mood, I'm not even going to begin asking how your day was."

"Is this really how you want to spend the rest of your life?"

Reeve blinked in surprise at the question. "What do you mean?"

"So, you haven't noticed that big glow in the sky, then?"

"It hasn't escaped my attention."

"Then why is everyone pretending that it has. Everyone still goes to work, still pays their bills and still plays stupid little games with each other."

"I don't know about that, half my team have gone MIA this last couple of weeks. But I'm confident we won't lose."

"Who, Shinra or Avalanche?"

"Does it matter, so long as the threat is gone?"

"Good point. But you haven't answered my question."

Reeve didn't seem to have to think about it for long. "This is as good a way as any I suppose. I think I can help."

That was another good point. And he was probably right. While Reno's own contributions to helping Shinra were pretty limited at this stage, Reeve's were not. Especially now that the Junon Cannon been relocated to Midgar. And from what Reeve told him previously, the cannon would be hooked up to every one of Midgar's reactors, a feat that only Reeve was able to get done in the allotted time. Nobody knew the reactors like he did. Most of his team had trouble keeping up with his ideas.

It was something Reno had learned when he was digging through the Shinra files. He wished he could have been ignorant of that fact. Now he knew how Tseng had felt, having to know all of this information about everyone. No wonder he had seemed all knowing considering the files he'd collected and notes he'd made. It was also a wonder why his head hadn't exploded.

"Yeah, there is that."

"Is that all that's bothering you?"

"Pretty much," Reno lied.

"Good. Because I was expecting a better homecoming than that."

"You expected to be accosted at the door, your clothes torn off and be screwed till you passed out?" Reno asked in a monotone.

Reeve let out a soft nervous kind of laugh. "Something like that."

"Yeah well, I wasn't in the mood."

Reeve frowned at him for a few moments before seemingly shrugging it off.

"Each to his own, I guess. He moved off the couch, replacing Reno's legs where he'd found them and stretched. "Well in that case, I'm going to have a long hot shower and a good scrub. I think I have half of the grease in Reactor Eight still caked on and because we had the reactor only just connected back to the grid just before we left. I haven't had a proper wash in about two days."

And sure enough, he took his jacket off to show Reno the smudges and streaks of dark dirt and grease still on his arms and neck. Of course disconnecting a reactor was dirty work and Reeve never wore anything but t-shirts and workpants when he knew he was going to get dirty. It was a little weird, but there was always something really attractive about seeing Reeve after he'd been crawling around in a reactor. It was probably because the man was always so pristine, so clean that seeing him this way made it, well, sexy in some way. Even his t-shirt was torn a little up near his left arm where it has obviously gotten snagged on something.

Reeve knew this. He knew that it would get to him. He even knew that Reno was one of the very few people in the world it seemed who like the smell of mako. And Reeve had to be reeking of it at the moment. Reeve couldn't understand the fascination; he didn't like the tinny, harsh smell at all.

Reno's interest was so immediate it was almost funny. "Need some help with that?"

"Nah, that's okay," Reeve told him trying to sound blasé. "A good half hour or so and I should be able to get the mako smell out of my hair."

He didn't wait for a response, just started off toward the bathroom, lifting off his t-shirt as he went. Once he got into the bathroom and flipped on the light, Reeve could see just how much grease he still had on him. Here and there on his arms, his neck. A bit smeared where his shirt had torn. A little on his lower back and belly where his shirt had ridden up a few times. Maybe half an hour scrubbing was being optimistic.

Though not if he had help.

As expected Reno had followed him. He showed up in the mirror behind Reeve and was checking him out in the glass's reflection. He even stepped up closer and gave his hair a sniff.

"You are _so_ weird," Reeve told him, amazed by Reno's reaction.

"And you _so_ did this on purpose."

"I didn't come home smelling like mako on purpose. But pointing out the fact that I did when you were showing such unflattering disinterest in me was."

Reno reached around and starting tugging at Reeve's belt.

"And I didn't say you could help me in the shower after that welcome home." Reeve continued.

Reno didn't stop. "Are you likely to say no?" Reno asked reaching his hand inside the now open pants and practically burying his face into Reeve's hair.

Reeve closed his eyes as sensation took over thought. "No, probably not."

* * *

"You know, you should probably get help with that mako fetish of yours."

It was much later in bed when Reno was woken by his own snoring. Or more precisely, his snoring had woken Reeve, and Reeve had hit him with a pillow after twenty minutes of not being able to get back to sleep.

"You make it sound like there's something wrong with me. Some people get turned on by whips, some people by kinky clothes, I like the smell of mako. It's like you and your barely covered thing."

"My what?"

"Your barely covered thing. C'mon, you must know. If I've got a pair of pants on that hang too low or the other night when the sheet was barely covering my ass, you've got a distinct fascination with the parts that are left showing. You just _have_ to touch, you can't leave it alone."

"Okay, but that's pretty normal really."

"Alright then, here's a weirder one: I slept with this chick once who had this fetish for other people's pain. Not a full on sadist, but enough to be different. She had these long sharp manicured fingernails that she used to love to scratch you with. I had four deep gouges on my left ass check and my back was so bad by the end of it I couldn't lay on it for a week afterwards."

"And you still had sex with her?" Reeve asked, surprised.

"Sure, I'm a trooper, what can I say. That and it was part of a bet. I won a hundred gil for being the first guy who could last the whole time with her."

"Okay that _is_ weird. The scratching _and_ the bet, by the way."

"I wouldn't get so high and mighty about the pain thing anyway. It's like when I bite you." Reno demonstrated with a nibble. "You love it, admit it."

Reeve shivered. "There's a big difference between a love bite and tearing someone's skin off."

"Granted."

"I wonder if it's got something to do with the mako in you." Reeve mused. "I mean maybe that's why you're addicted to the smell, now."

"Maybe, maybe it reminds me of home in the slums where the air smells of it. Or maybe I'm just weird. You love that, too."

"That must be it. You seem to have gotten around a bit when you were younger."

Warily, Reno said, "You knew that. I told you."

"Oh, I'm not accusing you of anything. I just don't get why you would find regular sex that interesting, anymore."

"I'm not sure I've ever had regular sex. Sounds boring."

"With me, I mean."

"You think you'd bore me because we don't use whips and chains?" Reno asked, amused.

"Wait, whips and chains?" Reeve looked mildly concerned. And mildly scandalized. And mildly interested.

"Long story. I'll tell you about it someday. Oh, and about the swing."

"Um…"

"Anyway, like I was saying, sex with you isn't boring, nor run of the mill not even average." Reno grinned. "Best sex I've ever had."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not. I mean sure I've had sex that's incredibly explosive as far as sensation is concerned, but it's usually over pretty quickly because you're only really there for one thing."

Reeve rolled to his side so he could face Reno. "Now you've lost me."

"It's better when coming is only secondary, just a finishing point. Getting there is more what it's about. I've spent entire nights with you and getting to know every inch of you, I've never felt compelled to do that with anyone else. I've never wanted to."

"I guess I know what you mean. So you wouldn't trade it at all for that excitement again?"

"Nope." Reno added, "This is really bugging you isn't it?"

"No, I uh, I dunno. Maybe. It's not a bad feeling to know I've converted such a hardcore slut though." Reeve laughed.

Reno sat up and slung a leg over Reeve's hips in order to sit on him. "I'll get you for that slut remark."

Reeve went to fend him off but Reno caught his hands and held onto them. "So the amount of people I've been with doesn't bug you, but the thought that because I've been with so many people makes you worry 'cause I might find you boring in comparison?"

Reeve seemed to realize something for the first time. "I kinda have that backwards to what I'm supposed to, don't I?"

"I would've thought so. I'm serious though, nothing compares, not anything I've ever done with anyone else." Reno leant forward and pinned Reeve's hands up over his head and grinned. "There's a reason I'm obsessed with you and it has very little to do with sex…"

Reno's sentence petered out though as he saw a quick look of panic cross the other man's face. He was so stunned to see it he didn't move for a while and didn't really feel the force Reeve was exerting trying to move his wrists from Reno's hold. He felt it eventually though and immediately let go.

"Are you alright?"

Reeve seemed to be forcing himself to calm down a little and said "fine" like he was trying to sound nonchalant. "What were you saying?"

But Reno had already realized what he'd done. He'd reminded Reeve of a moment he'd probably rather forget. The last time he'd pinned Reeve like that he'd had a knife. And just when Reno's brain was about to shut down and go to his happy place, he took control of himself again.

He rolled himself off Reeve, dragging Reeve over with him and encouraged Reeve to sit on him just like Reno had.

"Grab my hands and pin me," Reno told him.

"What? Why?"

"Just do it."

Very reluctantly, Reeve leaned forward and pinned Reno's wrists just as Reno had done to him. Reno stared into his eyes. "I'm at your mercy now."

"Look, I didn't…"

"Don't apologize for something you aren't responsible for. I want you to feel safe."

"I do feel safe."

"Could've fooled me."

"No I do. I have a gun in my bedside drawer." Reeve smiled.

Naturally Reno figured he was joking. But when he laughed, Reeve let go of his hands and leant across to open his drawer. He took out what looked like a silver hand cannon. Okay it wasn't _that_ big but when Reeve pulled it out and resumed sitting on him and showed him the weapon, Reno figured any gun he saw when he was naked in bed and being partially held down would look menacing.

"Oh."

"Like it?"

"You bought a gun?"

"No, actually, Tseng gave it to me. He meant well, I think. He said it might help me sleep better."

"So this is anti-Reno protection?"

Reeve didn't seem happy to admit it but he said, "I was having nightmares. He thought I'd sleep better if I knew I could protect myself. A psychological thing I suppose."

"Great," Reno muttered. "He'd better have shown you how to use it."

Reeve grinned jacked a round into the chamber. "He wasn't an idiot."

"You know, I know he bought that for you to protect you against me, but fuck you look hot with that thing. You also know that showing me that you have one means it's not very good protection anymore."

"That's kinda the point. I want you to know that I do trust you. No matter if I sometimes look like I don't. I can't help it, but I don't honestly think you'll do anything to hurt me. I only still keep it there because I haven't got anything else to do with it."

Reno considered. "It's not a bad thing to have around for those 'just in case' times. You keep it loaded, I see."

"Wouldn't be much good if I didn't. But the safety's on, I'm not a complete idiot."

"You know what's weird? I find it irresistibly sexy when you're all covered in reactor grease because you're always so clean and proper looking otherwise. I'm getting the same thing when you have that gun. It's so…rebellious of you."

"So does that mean if you get a haircut and put on a tux I'll get the same jollies from you?"

Reno gripped the muzzle of the gun and held it to his chest. "Shoot me now and save me from your humor huh?"

Predictably, Reeve looked freaked about having the gun pointed up against Reno's chest and Reno let him remove it and stow it away again.

"So Tseng gave you lessons, too? Are you any good with it?"

Reeve grinned. "He said I'm a better shot than you are."

Reno was surprised, but not offended. It had taken him awhile to get any good with a firearm.

"Fuck, that _is _hot." Reno grunted, sitting up and stealing a kiss.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: Well Reno sure knows how to say 'no' doesn't he? Any normal person would get the message but somehow I'm not certain Rufus has really gotten the message do you?_

_See you soon,_

_AF_


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